Rheological behavior and mechanical properties of epoxy composite modified with nanosilica particles.

Reference	Presenter	Authors (Institution)	Abstract
18-031	Samireh Vahid	Vahid, S.(Kingston University);	In this study the rheological behavior and mechanical properties of Araldite AY105/Hardener HY 991 epoxy composite modified with nanosilica particles at 10, 15 and 20 wt% loading are investigated. SEM images confirmed good dispersion of nanosilica particles in the epoxy. Rheological studies were carried out for each nanosilica loading and the results revealed that shear thickening was occurred at all three nanosilica loadings and the epoxy with 20 wt% nanosilica loading showing the highest shear thickening. Adding the nanosilica particles to epoxy has shown improvement in coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) for all specimens due to the much lower CTE of the nanosilica fillers. The elastic modulus of all epoxy systems were also increased by addition of nanosilica due to the large boundary surface created by nanosilica. Bending strength and fracture toughness of the nanocomposites have been increased, but as the particles acted as defects, the tensile strength of the nanocomposites is decreased.
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