Vibration damping characteristics of carbon fiber-reinforced composites containing multi-walled carbon nanotubes

Shafi Ullah Khan, Chi Yin Li, Naveed A. Siddiqui, Jang Kyo Kim

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

279 Scopus citations

Abstract

Vibration damping characteristic of nanocomposites and carbon fiber reinforced polymer composites (CFRPs) containing multiwall carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been studied using the free and forced vibration tests. Several vibration parameters are varied to characterize the damping behavior in different amplitudes, natural frequencies and vibration modes. The damping ratio of the hybrid composites is enhanced with the addition of CNTs, which is attributed to sliding at the CNT-matrix interfaces. The damping ratio is dependent on the amplitude as a result of the random orientation of CNTs in the epoxy matrix. The natural frequency shows negligible influence on the damping properties. The forced vibration test indicates that the damping ratios of the CFRP composites increase with increasing CNT content in both the 1st and 2nd vibration modes. The CNT-epoxy nanocomposites also show similar increasing trends of damping ratio with CNT content, indicating the enhanced damping property of CFRPs arising mainly from the improved damping property of the modified matrix. The dynamic mechanical analysis further confirms that the CNTs have a strong influence on the composites damping properties. Both the dynamic loss modulus and loss factor of the nanocomposites and the corresponding CFRPs show consistent increases with the addition of CNTs, an indication of enhanced damping performance.

Original languageBritish English
Pages (from-to)1486-1494
Number of pages9
JournalComposites Science and Technology
Volume71
Issue number12
DOIs
StatePublished - 19 Aug 2011

Keywords

  • A. Carbon fibres
  • A. Carbon nanotubes
  • B. Vibration

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