International Journal of Application or Innovation in Engineering & Management (IJAIEM)

Web Site: www.ijaiem.org Email: [email protected], [email protected] Volume 3, Issue 2, February 2014 ISSN 2319 - 4847

Effect of UV Irradiation on Fatigue Behavior of Epoxy/ SiO2 Nanocomposites Reinforced with EGlass Fiber
Najwa J .Jubier1, Kawakib J. Majeed2 and Ekram A. Ajaj3
Baghdad University-College of science-Department of Physics

Abstract
In this study Epoxy/ SiO2 nanocomposites with different volume fraction of SiO2 nano particles (1%,3%,5%,7% and10%)were prepared, the fatigue behavior of unirradiated and UV irradiated composites were reported in the ambient temperature for (240 hours) , atomic force microscopy techniques (AFM) was used with scanning probe microscope to measure the particles size of SiO2 nanoparticales. Minimum roughness of the composites was found for composites with 3% vol. fraction of SiO2 nanoparticles. Then Epoxy/ SiO2 nanocomposites were reinforced with 6 layers of chopped mat E-glass fiber to study their fatigue behavior. The test was carried under rotary bending method ,the type of loading was sinusoidal wave with wave ratio R= -1 , and loading frequency 5Hz, which is believed to give a negligible temperature rise during the test. Values of fatigue strength, fatigue life and fatigue limit of the tested composites were investigated from S-N curves .The results show that addition of SiO2 nanoparticle enhance the fatigue behavior, however more enhancement was obtained for Epoxy/ SiO2 nanocomposite reinforced with 6 layers of chopped mat E-glass fiber. The study indicates that the UV radiation enhance the fatigue life of tested samples due to the formation of crosslinking structure in the presence of the UV radiation .

Key words: Fatigue, UV-radiation, silica/ Epoxy Nanocomposite and E-glass fibers.

1.INTRODUCTION
Organic/inorganic composite materials have been extensively studied for a long time. When the inorganic phases (fillers) in organic/inorganic composites become nanosized, they are called nanocomposites. Organic/inorganic nanocomposites are generally polymer (e.g., thermoplastics, thermosets, or elastomers) composites with nanoscale building blocks. They combine the advantages of the filler materials (e.g., rigidity and thermal stability) and the advantages of polymer (e.g., flexibility, dielectric, ductility, and processability). Moreover, when filler become nano sized the composites usually contain special properties of nanofillers leading to improved materials properties [1, 2]. Also polymer nanocomposites show major improvements in mechanical properties, gas barrier properties, thermal stability, fire retardancy, insulating properties with good mechanical properties and other fields [3-5]. In addition, many polymer nanocomposites can be fabricated and processed in ways similar to that of conventional polymer composites, making them particularly attractive from a manufacturing point of view [1]. There are many factors that affect the polymer nanocomposite properties; synthesis methods, polymer nanocomposite morphology, types of nanoparticles and Polymer matrix such as crystallinity, molecular weight, polymer chemistry, and whether thermoplastic or thermosetting [2]. Fatigue is a type of fracture that occurs in materials that are subjected to changing or varying stresses over time. It is the major problem in many of the modern machines and devices we use today, such as bridges and airplanes. Fatigue manifestation takes place when an element of structure or machine can prove less resistance to a load as this load is reapplied many times than when it is kept permanently .The fatigue stress is well below the yield stress, the effect of such cyclic stress is to initiate microscopic cracks at centers of stress concentration within the material or on the surface, and subsequently to enable these cracks to propagate leading to eventual failure. It is well known that the fatigue loading can induce damage accumulation with cycling, and that failure occurs when some critical level of damage is exceeded .However the fatigue characteristics can be predicted from the knowledge of failure mechanism and factors affecting fatigue behavior [6-7] .The fatigue durability of polymeric materials is largely affected by weathering condition, such as temperatures, moisture and UV radiation[8].The energy of UV photon is enough to be comparable to most chemical bond, or even significantly higher; this can result in serious changes in the chemical and physical properties.Therefore, for the selection of materials used in such an environment, knowledge about their resistance against UV irradiation is very important[9]. Research on the fatigue behavior of nanocomposites basis for later understanding the complex fatigue behavior were performed, a number of these early works studied the effect of variation testing parameters on fatigue behavior. Many works have been conducted and reported in following. Majeed [2005] investigated the fatigue behavior of E-glass/epoxy composites with different types fibers (chopped mat, woven roving and combined) and different number of laminates (from 2-6) of E-glass fibers, and also studied the effects of water immersion and -irradiation on that behavior. It has been observed that (WR) composites reflect higher fatigue strength and fatigue limit but lower fatigue life. While (CM) composites reflect higher resistance to the fatigue damage with higher fatigue life but lower fatigue strength and fatigue limit.It is also appeared that reinforcing by the

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combination (WR/CM) improved the fatigue behavior of E-glass/epoxy composites by enhancing the fatigue strength and resistance to failure damage [10]. Kinloch and Taylor [2006] studied the mechanical properties and fracture behaviour of epoxy-inorganic micro- and nanocomposites,in this study the formation of micro- and nano-composites with silicates increases the fracture performance of epoxy polymer. The toughening mechanisms are a combination of crack deection by the silicate and plastic deformation of the matrix around the silicate particles. The plastic deformation is initiated by the epoxy matrix debonding from the silicate, due to the relatively poor adhesion, which relieves the triaxial constraint at the crack tip and allows the epoxy to plastically deform [11]. Hasan (2009) studied effect of UV-Light and Water Absorption on the Fatigue Behavior of Epoxy/Polyurethane Blends, unreinforced and reinforced, with different laminate number of E-glass fibers type Woven Roving (WR) with orientation 00,900. The results showed that the reinforcing led to an increase of the fatigue strength and the enhancement of fatigue life, especially for (95%EP) specimen reinforced with (4) laminates comparing with unreinforced specimens the result also reveal that polyurethane plays an important role as stress damping agent in the specimens with polyurethane content (higher than 20%),but in account on fatigue life which decreased with the increase of polyurethane ratio in these blends ,on the other hand the irradiation with UV rays has positive effect on unreinforced specimens (except 75%EP sample) which declare an enhancement of fatigue strength and fatigue life, this confirm that irradiation affected the blend sample as a cross linking agent between the constituents of the blends[12]. Manjunatha et al. [2010] investigated The tensile fatigue behaviour of a silica nanoparticle-modified glass fibre reinforced epoxy composite, the result indicates the addition of the silica nanoparticles increased the fatigue life by about three to four times. The neat and the nanoparticle-modified epoxy resins were used to fabricate glass fibre reinforced plastic (GFRP) composite laminates by resin infusion. The fatigue life of the GFRP composite was increased by about three to four times due to the silica nanoparticles presence. Suppressed matrix cracking and reduced crack propagation rate in the nanoparticle-modified matrix were observed to contribute towards the enhanced fatigue life of the GFRP composite employing silica nanoparticle-modified epoxy matrix [13]. In this work, Epoxy/ SiO2nanocomposites, Epoxy/ SiO2 nanocomposites reinforced with 6 layers of chopped mat E-glass fiber were prepared, and fatigue behavior were examined and discussed in detail, The SiO2nanoparticles have shown a positive effect on fatigue behavior of the nanocomposites ,and investigated the effect of UV irradiation on fatigue behavior of nanocomposites in details.

2.EXPERIMENTAL WORK RAW MATERAILS

The raw materials used to prepare the samples are; Epoxy as a matrix (Nitofill, EPLV with Nitofill EPLV hardener from Fosroc Company),the weight ratio of the epoxy resin to the hardener was 3:1 and gelling time 40 minutes at 35C , mixed viscosity 1.0 poise at 35C and density1.04g/cm3 . E-glass fibers type chopped mat as reinforcements of surface density300g/m2.The fillers are SiO2 nanoparticles (Aerosil-200) from Aerosilpharma (hydrophilic silica) with mean diameter of 12nm, a specific surface area of 20025m2 /g. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was used( CSPM scanning probe microscope) to measure the particles size of SiO2 nanoparticalesm,the particles size distribution is shown in Fig.(1). Table (1) shows some of the raw materials properties.

(a) (b) Figure (1): FM of silica nanoparticles Table (1) Materials and some of their properties
Materials Epoxy (EPLV) Nano-Silica (SiO2) E-glass fiber Density g/cm 3 Particle Size (nm) Surface area (m2/g) Purity%

1.04 0.05 2.55

------------12 -------------

------------20025 -------------

------------99.8 -------------

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Web Site: www.ijaiem.org Email: [email protected], [email protected] Volume 3, Issue 2, February 2014 ISSN 2319 - 4847 PREPARATION METHOD
Specimens of neat epoxy and its nanocomposites with different volume fraction (1%, 3%, 5%, 7% and10%) of SiO2 nanoparticales reinforced with six layers of E-glass fibers were prepared by molding method. The neat epoxy specimens were prepared by simple direct mixing of epoxy resin with the hardener. The nanocomposites were prepared in more complicated method such that; nanoparticles were preheated at 120 for 2 h in order to eliminate possible absorbed water on their surface (which has been reported to increase the resins viscosity) and to prepare homogenous nanocomposites. An oil bath was used to heat up the mixture to desired 75 temperatures so the viscosity of epoxy base is reduced. Proper mechanical stirring for 2h at this stage resulted better dispersion of nanoparticles, then the mixture was cooled to room temperature after that the hardener was added to the formulation and mixed by mechanical stirring for 10 minutes. The samples were left for 48 hours before pulling out from molds and left for 7 days before any test to get better curing conditions and kept then in vacuum chambers. The nonocomposite reinforced with 6 layers of E-glass fiber were prepared by using hand lay-up method, the mixture of epoxy and SiO2 nanoparticles were poured on 6 laminates of the mat E- glass fiber uniformly, paint brush and aluminum notched roller were used to maintain uniformly mixture with the fibers sheet. The full curing of prepared sheets was done by leaving them for at least seven days before processing further. The nanocomposite sheets were cut to a certain dimension specimens according to the instrument manual specification by using circular saw.

UV- IRRADIATION
The samples to be irradiated were exposed to UV radiation at room temperature and air atmosphere by using mercury vapor lamp (type Osram 400Watt).Which emits strong lines at wavelengths of (254,313 and 365) nm. The exposure time of the test samples irradiated was 240 hour.

FATIGUE TEST
Test samples for fatigue test cut from nanocomposites sheets were prepared with dimensions according to the instrument manual specification [10] as shown in Fig (2).

Figure (2): Shape of fatigue test specimen with dimensions in mm [10]. The samples were tested at room temperature using alternating bending with stress ratio (R= -1), and loading frequency 5Hz, under constant displacement (U=20mm) the bending moment(mb) of the stressed specimen can be calculated directly from the fatigue testing machine readings , from which bending stress () can be determined from the following equation:

Where W= mb =the bending moment (Nm)(was calculated from the standard curves of indication on dial gauge and the bending moment). b = the width of specimen waist (20mm). h = thickness of specimen. Then bending stress ( verses number of cycles curves ( -N) were plotted for the tested samples. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was performed using CSPM scanning probe microscope to measure the roughness of the surface specimen, the surface roughness analysis of epoxy /SiO2nanocomposite with 1%, 3%and 10%SiO2 nanoparticales are shown in Figure (3).

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Figure (3): Surface roughness of nanocomposies with [(a) 1%, (b) 3% and(c) 10%] vol. fraction of SiO2 It was noticed that roughness of EP/SiO2 nanocomposites with1% volume fraction of SiO2 nanoparticale was about 6.7nm .The roughness value of EP/SiO2 nanocomposites decreases to 2.36nm with the increasing of silica nanoparticles concentration until 3% vol. fraction of SiO2 nanoparticles are reached, This behavior could be due to good distribution and dispersion of nanoparticles with optimal concentration leading to overcome the problems of matrix structure (nanocracks, big agglomerations and weak resistance to loads) .Then the roughness of the surface of EP/SiO2 increase about 18% with increasing of concentration of silica nanoparticles to10% vol. fraction to 2.91nm, due to formation of some agglomerations .

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The fatigue test showed that all specimens with SiO2 nanoparticles suffer brittle fracture during the test course as shown in Figure (4).

Figure (4): The brittle fracture of EP/1%SiO2nanocomposites For the neat epoxy and its SiO2 nanocomposites , the maximum fatigue stress, and fatigue life were determined and listed in Table( 2). Table (2) the values of maximum fatigue stress and fatigue life of epoxy and EP/ SiO2 nanocomposites. Samples Vol.% nano-SiO2 Maximum fatigue stress(MPa) Fatigue life EP EP1S EP3S EP5S EP7S EP10S 0 1 3 5 7 10 42.3 52.5 67.4 53.3 44.9 53.7 400 1700 2500 5000 7100 19000

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The results show variation in fatigue behavior of the neat epoxy and its nanocomposites, the neat epoxy specimens was fractured after about 400 cycles at notch area where it becomes location to stress concentration. This agrees with results reported by Harris [14]. It can be inferred from the table that the addition of silica nanoparticles has improved the maximum fatigue stress and fatigue life of the epoxy. EP3S nanocomposites with 3% nano SiO2 show higher maximum fatigue stress where it increase about 39%, because the nanoparticles tend to occupy small holes in the epoxy resin and act as a bridge to make more molecular interconnected resulting in reduction in total free volume as well as increase in cross-linking density (15). At higher addition of SiO2 nanoparticles maximum fatigue stress decrease with increasing volume fraction of SiO2 nanoparticles fraction, but the results of maximum fatigue stress still higher than that of epoxy as shown in figure(5).

Figure (5): Maximum fatigue stress vs. the volume fraction of SiO2 for Ep/ SiO2nanocomposites. There are possible reasons of this decrement in maximum fatigue stress one would be the weak boundaries between nanoparticles and probable micronized trapped bubbles. The other responsible reason may be the effect of high amounts of nanoparticles on homogeneity in cross linking of the epoxy network. As the interfacial area of the particles is high, their interaction with epoxy chain would cause the lower homogeneity in cross link density [16]. Finally, due to nanoparticles agglomeration lead to increase the distance (free volume space) between epoxy chains. The results of fatigue life that observed from table(2)and Figure(6) is in good agreement with results recorded for the epoxy polymer containing nano-silica by Blackman et al [17].

Figure (6): Fatigue Life vs. the volume fraction of SiO2 for EP/SiO2nanocomposites Figure(7) shows the fatigue behavior of the nanocomposites reinforced with 6 layers of E-glass fibers, the values of maximum fatigue stress, fatigue strength for 1*104 cycles and fatigue limit are evaluated and listed in table (3).

Figure (7): The (-N) plot for epoxy and EP/ SiO2 nanocomposites reinforced with (6) layers of (CM) E-glass fiber

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The results show similar behavior to that observed for EP/ SiO2 nanocomposite, but with higher values due to E- glass fiber which enhance the fatigue of nanocomposites as shown in table(3),these results show good agreement with results of manjunatha.et al [18], which showed that for four different types of GFRP laminates with 10 wt.% silica nano-particles exhibit higher fatigue lives, these particles enhance the fatigue life of GFRP composite by about two to three times and raising the fatigue limit by about 15%, , when compared to the neat-resin matrix composites and also in a good agreement with Manjunatha et al[19] which shows that the fatigue life of the GFRP composite was increased by about three to four times in the presence of silica nanoparticles. Table (3) the values of maximum fatigue stress, fatigue strength and fatigue limit of Epoxy, EP/ SiO2 nanocomposites reinforced with 6 layers of E-glass.
Samples Vol.% nanoSiO2 0 1 3 5 7 10 Max. Fatigue Stress(MPa) 102.5 125.9 136.2 126.7 103 124.5 Fatigue strength (MPa)for1*104cycles 96.67 123.1 132.2 119.83 97.08 119.05 Fatigue Limit(MPa) 90.8 117.2 124.5 115.7 92 111.3

EPCM EP1SCM EP3SCM EP5SCM EP7SCM EP10SCM

This is also agree with recent studies indication that the inclusion of nanoparticles much improves the mechanical properties [20] and fatigue life [21] of continuous glass fiber reinforced EPS (GFRP).Under lower SiO2 content the dispersion of the particles in the epoxy matrix was good enough and fatigue limit increased with increased of the SiO2 contents. In many cases only EP nanocomposites filled with nanoparticles at low concentration are of practical interests because the introduction of nano fillers at high concentration will complicate the manufacture process and lead to high costs, the nanoparticles adhere to each other due to the inherent Vander Waals force between the particles resulting in nanoparticles agglomerates [22]. EP/SiO2nanocomposites reinforced with E-glass were examined to reveal the type of damage. The process of damage starts off with the initiation of micro cracks of matrix, which is an irreversible micro damage that occurs throughout the stressed region at the waist of the test specimen manifested by color whitening as shown in Figure(8).

Figure (8): Photographs of tested specimens show damage resistance of3Vol.%SiO2for nanocomposites reinforced 6 Layers of( CM )E-glass fiber. Table (4) shows the maximum fatigue strength and fatigue life of the neat epoxy resin and its nanocomposites specimens irradiated with UV rays in the ambient temperature for240 hours the fatigue test showed the neat epoxy specimen fractured at about300 cycles at waist area, it has a maximum fatigue stress value 53.17 MPa which is higher than the unirradiated specimen by about 20.4%, due to the formation of crosslinking structure in the presence of the UV radiation. Cross-linking involves chemically connecting polymer molecules by primary valence bonds. This imposes obvious restrictions on molecular mobility [23]; this is in good agreement with results obtained by Hassan [12]. Table (4) the values of maximum fatigue stress and fatigue life for the epoxy and EP/SiO2 nanocomposites (unreinforced& UV irradiated)
Samples EP EP1S EP3S EP5S EP7S EP10S Vol.% nano-SiO2 Maximum fatigue stress(MPa) Fatigue life

0 1 3 5 7 10

53.17 49.58 58.57 48.89 42.51 52.68

300 2800 1900 4400 4800 11200

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It is evident from Table (2) and (4) and figure (9) that all the unexposed nanocompositrs samples declare the maxiumim fatigue stress value which exceeds that of irradiated test samples this is because the polymer matrix in nanocomposite tends to undergo degradation during service and post-service. One serious consequence of matrix degradation is that nanoparticles will be exposed on the composite surface and could be released to the environment due to mechanical vibration from UV radiation ,the increase of nanosilica concentration at the composite surface with UV exposure was a result of the epoxy matrix degradation [24], EP/ nanocomposites with 3% nano SiO2 shows that the maximum fatigue stress decreases from 67.4MPa for unexposed sample to 58.57MPa for exposed samples. Fatigue life of various EP/SiO2 nanocomposites samples represented by the number of cycles to failure are evaluated and listed in Tables (4) It is clear that the specimen with 5%nano SiO2 particle yield the best fatigue life .On the other hand, all test samples appear to have lower fatigue life than unexposed samples as shown in figure(10).

Figure (9): Maximum fatigue stress vs. the volume fraction of SiO2 for epoxy and EP / SiO2 unirradiated and irradiated with UV rays for (240 hours).

nanocomposites

Figure (10): Fatigue life vs. the volume fraction of SiO2 for epoxy andEP / SiO2 nanocomposites unirradiated and irradiated with UV rays for (240 hours). Figure(11) shows the plots diagrams curves of (-N) of epoxy and EP/SiO2 nanocomposites with 1, 3, 5, 7, and 10% vol. fraction reinforced and 6 layer of glass fiber(CM) samples irradiated with UV rays in the ambient temperature for (240 hours),it is noticed from the plotted curve of Figures (4and 11) the values of maximum stress, fatigue strength and fatigue limit of the irradiated specimens have reduced considerably upon exposure as summarized in Table (5). This can be attributed to the increase of brittleness as a result of breakage of long chains which decreases the ability of matrix to transfer the stresses to the fibers and facilitate the failure during fatigue test [10].The degradation of properties of composites due to UV rays is known to concentrate in the matrix resin, causing breakage of the resin molecules, due to surface oxidation, with consequent embrittlement of the matrix, thus affecting the stiffness and the impact strength of the whole composite [25,26]. The direct result of UV incidence on laminates is superficial and the radiations cannot penetrate deep into the laminates; its effect, therefore, is the initiation of micro-cracks at the surface. However, those micro-cracks, in the presence of other environmental agents, can accelerate the degradation process by allowing easier penetration of agents into the interior of the laminates and triggering fracture at stress levels well below those required for unexposed material [27].

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Figure (11): The (-N) plot for epoxy and EP/ SiO2 nanocomposites reinforced with (6) layers of (CM) E-glass fiber irradiated with UV rays for (240 hours) As nano SiO2 particles makes a better bonding between fiber and epoxy resin, fatigue strength increased to 127.3MPa with addition 3% SiO2 nano particle and all values obtained from tested nanocomposites samples are still higher than the unirradiated neat composites sample. The results of fatigue test have most probably less values at high volume fraction of SiO2 nanoparticles, specifically at 7% Vol. fraction minimum decrement obviously appeared. The reduction may be due to the agglomerations of the particles and thus damaged matrix-particle interactions ,these reductions may be ascribed the higher void contents ,which may due to the fiber damage after exposure to UV rays[28]. Figures (13, 14 and 15) show the Comparing results between tested nanocomposites samples reinforced with 6 layers of CM glass fiber for the unirradiated and irradiated with UV rays. Table (5) the values of maximum stress, fatigue strength and fatigue limit for the epoxy and (reinforced with CM fiber glass& UV irradiated)
Samples Vol.% nanoSiO2 Max. Fatigue Stress(MPa) Fatigue strength (MPa)for1*104cycles

EP/SiO2 nanocomposites

Fatigue Limit(MPa)

EPCM EP1SCM EP3SCM EP5SCM EP7SCM EP10SCM

0 1 3 5 7 10

99.54 115.7 127.3 117.05 106.6 114.2

89.1 107.43 117.18 107.9 90.33 102.5

87.96 106.6 114.3 106.08 89 101.2

Figure (12): Maximum fatigue stress vs. the volume fraction of SiO2 for epoxy and EP / SiO2 nanocomposites reinforced with 6 layers of (CM) E-glass fibers unirradiated and irradiated with UV rays for (240 hours).

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Figure (13): Fatigue strengths vs. the volume fraction of SiO2 for epoxy and EP / SiO2 nanocomposites reinforced with 6 layers of (CM) E-glass fibers unirradiated and irradiated with UV rays for (240 hours).

Figure (14): Fatigue Limits vs. the volume fraction of SiO2 for epoxy and EP / SiO2 nanocomposites reinforced with 6 layers of (CM) E-glass fibers unirradiated and irradiated with UV rays for (240 hours).

4.CONCLUSION
1-Based on the results obtained in this investigation, it is clear that the presence of silica nano-particles in the epoxy polymer reduces the brittle nature of the epoxy resin such that enhancing the maximum fatigue stress, fatigue life and roughness of the composite surface. 2-Better enhancement was observed for composite reinforced by E-glass fiber. 3-Highest fatigue results were found for EP/3% nano SiO2 composite reinforced by 6 layers of E-glass fiber. 4-Both nanocomposites unreinforced and reinforced with (CM) E-glass fiber are susceptible to the influence of UVirradiation, the influences cause deterioration that reduce the maximum stress and fatigue strength but all values obtained still higher than the unirradiated neat epoxy sample. REFRENCE [1] F.Hussain, M.Hojjati, M. Okamoto, and R. E. Gorga. "Review article : Polymer-Matrix Nanocomposites, Processing, Manufacturing and Application: An overview" Journal of Composite Materials. Vol. 40, No. 17 (2006) 1511-1575. [2] J. H. Koo. "Polymer Nanocomposites, Processing, Charactrization and Application" McGraw-Hill , New York (2006). [3] R. Sarathi, R.K. Sahuand P. Rajeshkumar "Understanding the Thermal, Mechanical and Electrical Properties of Epoxy Nanocomposites" Materials Science and Engineering A 445446 (2007) 567578. [4] L. L. Zhai, L. GP and W. YW.. "Effect of Nano-Al2O3 on Adhesion Strength of Epoxy Adhesive and Steel" International Journal of Adhesion & Adhesives Vol. 28 (2008) 23-28. [5] R. P. Singh, M. Zhang and D.Chan"Toughening of A brittle Thermosetting Polymer: Effects of Reinforcement Particle Size and Volume Fraction"J. Mater. Sci. Vol. 37 (2002) 781-788. [6] W.D.Callister "Materials Science and Engineering" John Wily and Sons, Inc, London2003. [7] T.M.Dicka, P.B.Jar and J.R.Cheng "Predication of Fatigue Resistance of Short-Fiber-Reinforced Polymer" International Journal of Fatigue, Vol. 31 (2009) 184-191.

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[8] A.Davis, "Weathering of Polymers",Applied Science Publishers,London,1983. [9] G.Peng,D.Yang,J.Lin,S,He, J.of Applied Polymer Science,Vol.90(2003),115. [10] K. J. Majeed "Fatigue Behavior of E-Glass Fibers/Epoxy Composites" PhD thesis, College of Science, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, IRAQ (2005). [11] A. J. Kinloch and A.C.Taylor"The Mechanical Properties and Fracture Behaviour of Epoxy-Inorganic Micro- and Nano-composites"J. Mater Sci,Vol. 41 (2006)32713297. [12] A.A. Hasan "Effect of UV-Light and Water Absorption on the Fatigue Behavior of Epoxy/Polyurethane Blends Reinforced with Glass Fibers" Ph. D. Thesis, University of Baghdad, Iraq, 2009. [13] C.M. Manjunath. A.C.Taylor. A.J. Kinloch and S.Sprenger "The tensile Fatigue Behaviour of a Silica NanoparticleModified Glass Fiber Reinforced Epoxy Composite"Composites Science and Technology,Vol.70 ( 2010) 193-199. [14] B. Harris "Fatigue in Composites" Woodhead Publishing Ltd, Cambridge England, (2003).| [15] N. S alahuddin, A. Moet, A. H iltner and E. Baer "Nanoscale highly filled epoxy nanocomposite" Eur. Polym. J., Vol. 38 (2002) 1477 1482. [16] M. AL. Nikje, M.R. Khanmohammadi, A. B. Garmarudi and M. Haghshenas ",Nanosilica reinforced epoxy floor coating composites" : preparation and thermophysical characterization,"Current Chemistry Letters (2012). [17] B.R.K.Blackman. A.J.Kinloch .J.Sohn Lee .A.C.Taylor.R.Agarwal.G.Schuenemen and S.Sprenger " The fracture and fatigue behaviour of nano-modied epoxy polymers" Mater Sci., Vol .42 (2007) 70497051 DOI 10.1007/s10853007-1768-6. [18] C.M. Manjunath. A.C.Taylor. A.J. Kinloch and S.Sprenger " The effect of rubber micro-particles and silica nanoparticles on the tensile fatigue behavior of glass-fiber epoxy composite "J Mater Sci., Vol. 44 (2009) 342-345 DOI 10.1007/s 10853-3092-1. [19] C.M. Manjunatha, "The tensile fatigue behavior of a glass fiber reinforced plastic composite using a hybrid toughened epoxy matrix" Journal of Composite Materials ,Vol. 44(2010), 2095-2108. [20] Uddin M.F. and Sun C.T."Strength of unidirectional glass/epoxy composite with silica nanoparticle enhanced matrix"Composite Science and Technology,Vol.68, (2008),1637-1643. [21] C.M.Manjunath.A.C.Taylor.A.J .Kinloch and S.Sprenger "the tensile fatigue behavior of silica nano-particles modified glass-fiber reinforced epoxy composite" Composite Science and Technology, Vol.70 (2010)193-199. [22] G. Zhang, Z. Rasheva,J.Karger Kocsis and T.Burkhart " synergetic role of nanoparticales and micro scale short carbon fibers on the mechanical profiles of epoxy resin" eXPRESS Polymer Letters,Vol.5,No.10(2011)859-872 . [23] B.G.Kumar,R.P.Singh, T.Nakamura, J.of Composite Materials,Vol.36,No.24,P2713, 2002. [24] T Nguyen, B Pellegrin, C Bernard, X Gu, J M Gorham, P Stutzman, D Stanley,A Shapiro, E Byrd, R Hettenhouser and J Chin"Fate of nanoparticles during life cycle of polymer nanocomposites" Journal of Physics: Conference Series 304 (2011) 012060 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/304/1/012060. [25] Rinaldi, G; Maura, G. "Durable glass-epoxy composites cured at low temperatures Effects ofthermal cycling, UV irradiation and wet environment". Polymer International, 1993, 31, 339-345. [26] Silva, MAG." Aging of GFRP laminates and confinement of concrete columns". Composite Structures, , 79( 2007), 97-106. [27] Karbhari, VM; Zhang, S. "E-glass/vinylester composites in aqueous environments I:experimental results". Applied Composite Materials, 10,( 2003), 19-48. [28] K. KARAL" Tribological behaviour of polymer nanocomposites containing tungsten based nanoparticles"MS .thesis, Izmir Institute of Technology, Turkey (2007).

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