Ricerc@Sapienza

The effects of the integration of continuous sheets of randomly oriented multi-walled carbon nanotubes on the low velocity impact behavior of cross-ply carbon/epoxy laminates have been investigated. Three different energy levels were used, namely 5 J, 10 J, and 20 J and significant reductions in delaminated area in the range 11%–39% compared to the baseline laminates were achieved by incorporating interleaves at each 0/90 interface. This resulted in a better flexural damage tolerance of modified laminates.

The effects of electrospun veil position, areal density and concurrent presence of MWCNTs on the low velocity impact behaviour and damage tolerance of thin cross-ply carbon/epoxy laminates were investigated. Three different interleaved configurations were tested along with baseline laminates and the optimal configuration was then used to assess the effect of veil density (1.5 gsm and 4.5 gsm) and CNT doping on the damage tolerance.