Effect of Nanoclay in Epoxy-Based Fibre-Glass Composite Laminates subjected to Low Velocity Impact

This work presents the influence of nanoclay in epoxy-based fibre-glass composite laminates and its behaviour under low-velocity impact. Glass fibre reinforced in epoxy-clay nanocomposites were fabricated by hand lay-up method. Experimental test were performed according to ASTM standards using an instrumented falling weight impact testing machine. Impact test were conducted to characterize the type and extent of the damage observed for 0, 1, 3 and 5 percentage of nanocomposites as subjected to three different energy levels - 6.32, 12.63 and 18.95 J. The impact result shows that 1% and 3% nanoclay laminates sustained maximum load bearing capacity with higher energy absorption. The impact strength has been increased due to the presence of nanoclay in the epoxy matrix. Impact responses of the nanocomposites are compared with neat counterpart in terms of retardation, penetration and absorbed energy. An impact damage of the nanocomposites is analyzed by visual inspection method.