Ballistic impact behavior of carbon nanotube and nanosilica dispersed resin and composites

Experimental studies are presented on the ballistic impact behavior of nanoparticle dispersed materials viz. symmetric balanced cross-ply laminates made using unidirectional E-glass fabric with epoxy resin and neat epoxy resin. The nanoparticles used are nanosilica and multi-walled carbon nanotube for polymer matrix composites and nanosilica for epoxy resin. For comparison, studies are carried out on symmetric balanced cross-ply E-glass/epoxy and neat epoxy resin without nanoparticles. Effect of nanoparticle dispersion on ballistic limit velocity, V50 and energy absorbed has been studied. It is observed that V50 can be enhanced up to 6.3% for polymer matrix composites and up to 7.3% for neat resin on addition of nanoparticles. Also, energy absorbed can be increased up to 13.0% for polymer matrix composites and up to 15.2% for neat resin on addition of nanoparticles. Damage and energy absorbing mechanisms for different types of materials studied is also presented. Further, it is observed that the damage size on the target around the point of impact decreases on addition of nanoparticles. Quantitative data are given for high velocity impact behavior of the five types of specimens studied. © 2012 American Institute of Physics