Browsing by Author "Hsu, Shin-Ming"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2

Investigating mechanical properties of epoxy/organoclay nanocomposites
(2008-01-01)
Tsai, Jia-Lin
;
Hsu, Shin-Ming
;
機械工程學系
;
Department of Mechanical Engineering
This study aims to investigate the organoclay effect on the mechanical properties of epoxy nanocomposites. In order to characterize the organoclay effect, three different loadings of organoclay, 2.5, 5, and 7.5 wt%, were dispersed into the epoxy with a mechanical blender followed by sonication. Tensile tests and fracture tests were carried out on these specimens to determine their stiffness, strength and fracture behaviors. The experimental results obtained from tensile tests indicate that the stiffness of the epoxy increases with the increment of organoclay inclusion; however, the corresponding failure strain decreases. On the other hand, fracture tests on single- edge-notch bending specimens reveal that the inclusion of organoclay may dramatically reduce the fracture toughness of nanocomposites. The decrease could be due to changes in the morphologies of the epoxy nanocomposites as well as the interfacial debonding between the organoclay and the surrounding epoxy.
Organoclay effect on transverse compressive strength of glass/epoxy nanocomposites
(2006-11-01)
Tsai, Jia-Lin
;
Kuo, Jui-Ching
;
Hsu, Shin-Ming
;
機械工程學系
;
Department of Mechanical Engineering
This research focuses on the fabrication of glass fiber/epoxy nanocomposites containing organoclay as well as understanding the organoclay effect on the transverse compressive strength of nanocomposites. To demonstrate the organoclay effect, three different loadings of organoclay were dispersed, respectively, in the epoxy resin using a mechanical mixer followed by sonication. The corresponding glass/epoxy nanocomposites were produced by impregnating dry glass fiber with organoclay epoxy compound through a vacuum hand lay-up procedure. Unidirectional block specimens were employed for transverse compression tests on a hydraulic MTS machine. Experimental observations indicate that glass/epoxy nanocomposites containing organoclay exhibit higher transverse compressive strength than conventional composites. Furthermore, the failure mechanisms for all tested specimens were found to be fiber and matrix debonding. Therefore, results indicate that the increasing characteristic in transverse failure stress may be ascribed to the enhanced fiber/matrix adhesion modified by the organoclay.