Effect of silica nanoparticles on mechanical and thermal properties of neat epoxy and filament wounded E-glass/epoxy and basalt/epoxy composite tubes

In recent times, the fire accidents have been reported by certain news agency, due to interior aluminum cladding used in the buildings located in United Arab Emirates. In order to overcome this problem, an attempt is made in this work to arrive at suitable FRP/nanocomposites which can survive in the harsh environments and minimize the risk of fire accidents. In this study, the mechanical and thermal behaviour of different weight percentages (0, 0.5, 1 and 1.5) of silica nanoparticles dispersed in epoxy and FRP composites such as E-glass/epoxy and basalt/epoxy were studied. Flexural tests were performed using the three point bending fixture and, the three different instruments, namely DMA, DSC and TGA were used for finding out the thermal properties of above mentioned materials. The fractured surface of the three point bending specimens was investigated using Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM). The viscoelastic properties [storage modulus (E'), loss modulus (E') and loss factor (tan δ)] and glass transition temperature (Tg) were studied as a function of temperature ranging from room temperature (30 °C) to 190°C at a constant frequency (1 Hz) using DMA. The Tg values obtained from DMA were validated with Tg values obtained from DSC and, found a good agreement. The change in %weight and the thermal stability of different weight percentages (wt%) of nanocomposites as the temperature changes from room temperature to 800 °C were studied through TGA studies. It has been found that nanosilica particles play a crucial role in increasing the mechanical and thermal stability of the FRP composites. The higher thermal stability coupled with higher mechanical properties makes basalt fibre/epoxy nanosilica composites a better material which can sustain in harsh environments.