Abstract

Because of their high‐specific stiffness, carbon‐filled epoxy composites can be used in

structural components in fixed‐wing aircraft. Graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) are short
stacks of individual layers of graphite that are a newly developed, lower cost material that
often increases the composite tensile modulus. In this work, researchers fabricated neat
epoxy (EPON 862 with Curing Agent W) and 1–6 wt % GNP in epoxy composites. The cure
cycle used for this aerospace epoxy resin was 2 h at 121°C followed by 2 h at 177°C. These
materials were tested for tensile properties using typical macroscopic measurements.
Nanoindentation was also used to determine modulus and creep compliance. These
macroscopic results showed that the tensile modulus increased from 2.72 GPa for the neat
epoxy to 3.36 GPa for 6 wt % (3.7 vol %) GNP in epoxy composite. The modulus results
from nanoindentation followed this same trend. For loadings from 10 to 45 mN, the creep
compliance for the neat epoxy and GNP/epoxy composites was similar. The GNP aspect
ratio in the composite samples was confirmed to be similar to that of the as‐received
material by using the percolation threshold measured from electrical resistivity
measurements. Using this GNP aspect ratio, the two‐dimensional randomly oriented filler
Halpin–Tsai model adjusted for platelet filler shape predicts the tensile modulus well for the
GNP/epoxy composites. Per the authors' knowledge, mechanical properties and modeling
for this GNP/epoxy system have never been reported in the open literature. © 2012 Wiley
Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013

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