An investigation of carbon nanotubes effect on drilled-induced delamination and fatigue-life of GFRP composites using acoustic emission

In this paper, the effect of adding carbon nanotubes on drilled-induced delamination and fatigue-life of glass/epoxy composites is investigated. For this purpose,specimens by three different percent of nanotubes were made and were drilled under the same conditions. The delamination around the hole which was because of drilling was calculated. Then specimens were applied under quasi-static tension loading. They had approximately close strength. Finally, tension-tension fatigue tests were done and specimens had distinctly different fatigt1e—life. During tests, acoustic emission technique was used to validate the mechanical results and for more investigation of failure procedure. Result showed that acoustic emission technique could monitor the specimens’ mechanical behavior and predict well the failure time in specimens. The result showed that adding carbon nanotubes can reduce the drilled-indttced delamination and increase the fatigue-life. There was an exponential relationship between nanotubes percent with delamination factor and a linear relationship between the nanotubes percent and the number of fatigue cycles.