Experimental investigation of the low speed impact characteristics of nanocomposites

Nanocomposites have attracted the attention of scientists during the past few decades due to their superior mechanical, thermal, chemical and electrical characteristics. This paper presents the potential of using nanoclay woven Kevlar laminated composites to enhance the impact energy resistance and mechanical performance. The variation of nanoclay percentage usually leads to different characteristics of the resulting composite, and an increase in energy absorption by high percentage of fillers may accompany tendency to delamination. The effect of different percentages of nanoclays on composite properties are investigated in this paper. The results revealed enhancement in delamination resistance at low percentages of nanoclay additives, while the high percentage of nanoclay aggravated the composite delamination. The nanoclay with low percentage (4.3 wt.%) had shown the best results in delamination resistance.