Nanocharacterization of creep behavior of multiwall carbon nanotubes/epoxy nanocomposite

High temperature instrumented indentation testing was used to evaluate the mechanical properties of multiwall carbon nanotubes/epoxy nanocomposite system. Reference neat epoxy samples were also tested and compared with the results obtained for the nanocomposite. The nanoindentation creep tests were utilized to provide the creep strain rate sensitivity parameter, the contact creep compliance and the time-dependent deformation under constant loads. Different thermo-mechanical conditions comprising three temperatures of 25, 40 and 55 °C and three loads of 1, 2 and 3 mN were utilized. The improvements in the properties were not as high as anticipated through the use of mixture rule, indicating insufficient dispersion. However, variations in modulus, hardness and creep strain rate sensitivity parameter obtained using nanoindentation showed quantifiable differences between the MWCNTs nanocomposite and epoxy specimens. The comparison of the creep strain rate sensitivity A/d(0) from short term, 60 s, creep tests and the creep compliance J(t) from the long term, 1800 s, creep tests suggests that former parameter is a more useful comparative creep parameter than the creep compliance. The analysis of the creep strain rate sensitivity clearly revealed that the addition of MWCNTs to a commercial epoxy reduced the creep rate. This reduction of creep rate sensitivity parameter was observed particularly at thermal environments just below the glass transition temperature.