Abstract
Two liquid composite moulding techniques have been investigated in this study, resin transfer moulding (RTM) and resin infusion under flexible tool (RIFT) for the processing of glass fabric–epoxy laminates with 5% nanoaggregates of silica nanoparticles in the epoxy matrix. It has been found that the high fibre fraction reinforcement (Vf=0·50) filters the silica nanoaggregates resulting in stopping the in plane resin infiltration in RTM right at the beginning of the filling stage. Laminates of lower fibre fraction (Vf=0·40) were produced successfully by RIFT. Dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA) and three point bend tests showed that fibre–silica–epoxy composites, processed by RIFT, had higher elastic shear modulus and interlaminar shear strength than conventional fibre–epoxy composites manufactured by the same RIFT process.
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