The introduction of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) onto glass fibre (GF) to create a hierarchical structure of epoxy laminated composites has attracted considerable interest due to their merits in improving performance and multifunctionality. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) was used to analyze the woven hybrid GF-CNT. The results demonstrated that CNT was successfully deposited on the woven GF surface. Woven hybrid GF-CNT epoxy laminated composites were then prepared and compared with woven GF epoxy laminated composites in terms of their tensile properties. The results indicated that the tensile strength and tensile modulus of the woven hybrid GF-CNT epoxy laminated composites were improved by up to 9% and 8%, respectively compared to the woven hybrid GF epoxy laminated composites.

Optimal parameters setting of injection moulding (IM) machine critically effects productivity, quality, and cost production of end products in manufacturing industries. Previously, trial and error method were the most common method for the production engineers to meet the optimal process injection moulding parameter setting. Inappropriate injection moulding machine parameter settings can lead to poor production and quality of a product. Therefore, this study was purposefully carried out to overcome those uncertainty. This paper presents a statistical technique on the optimization of injection moulding process parameters through central composite design (CCD). In this study, an understanding of the injection moulding process and consequently its optimization is carried out by CCD based on three parameters (melt temperature, packing pressure, and cooling time) which influence the shrinkage and tensile strength of rice husk (RH) reinforced low density polyethylene (LDPE) composites. Statistical results and analysis are used to provide better interpretation of the experiment. The models are form from analysis of variance (ANOVA) method and the model passed the tests for normality and independence assumptions.

In this study, the electrospray deposition (ESD) method was used to deposit carbon nanotubes (CNT) onto the surfaces of carbon fibers (CF) in order to produce hybrid carbon fiber-carbon nanotubes (CF-CNT) which is rarely reported in the past. Extreme high-resolution field emission scanning electron microscopy (XHR-FESEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used to analyse the hybrid carbon fiber-carbon nanotube (CF-CNT). The results demonstrated that CNT was successfully and homogenously distributed on the CF surface. Hybrid CF-CNT was then prepared and compared with CF without CNT deposition in terms of their tensile properties. Statistically, the tensile strength and the tensile modulus of the hybrid CF-CNT were increased by up to 3% and 25%, respectively, as compared to the CF without CNT deposition. The results indicated that the ESD method did not cause any reduction of tensile properties of hybrid CF-CNT. Based on this finding, it can be prominently identified some new and significant information of interest to researchers and industrialists working on CF based products.

The use of organically modified clays as nano-reinforcement in polymer matrices is widely investigated owing to their remarkable reinforcement at low filler loading. In this body of work, the nanocomposites were prepared by melt blending nanoclay with polyamide 11 (PA 11) utilising a twin-screw extruder in order to maximise the dispersion of clay particles within the matrix during compounding. The main aim of the work was to study the reinforcing effect of nanoclay within PA 11 using two micromechanical model namely Halpin-Tsai and Mori-Tanaka composite theories. These theories were used to predict the effective tensile modulus of PA 11 nanocomposites and the results were compared to the experimental data. In addition, the Halpin-Tsai model was used to predict the storage modulus and heat distortion temperature (HDT) of PA 11 nanocomposites. It was found that the tensile modulus for nanocomposites with a high clay aspect ratio exhibits up to 10% higher when compared to the nanocomposites with lower clay aspect ratio. Thus, it is believed that the combination of clay aspect ratio and modulus contributes to the super reinforcing effect of nanoclay within the PA 11 matrix.

Filler surface modification has become an essential approach to improve the compatibility problem between natural fillers and polymer matrices. However, there is limited work that concerns on this particular effect under dynamic loading conditions. Therefore, in this study, both untreated and treated low linear density polyethylene/rice husk composites were tested under static (0.001 s ^–1, 0.01 s ^–1 and 0.1 s ^–1) and dynamic loading rates (650 s ^–1, 900 s ^–1 and 1100 s ^–1) using universal testing machine and split Hopkinson pressure bar equipment, respectively. Rice husk filler was modified using silane coupling agents at four different concentrations (1, 3, 5 and 7% weight percentage of silane) at room temperature. This surface modification was experimentally proven by Fourier transform infrared and Field emission scanning electron microscopy. Results show that strength properties, stiffness properties and yield behaviour of treated composites were higher than untreated composites. Among the treated composites, the 5% silane weight percentage composite shows the optimum mechanical properties. Besides, the rate of sensitivity of both untreated and treated composites also shows great dependency on strain rate sensitivity with increasing strain rate. On the other hand, the thermal activation volume shows contrary trend. For fracture surface analysis, the results show that the treated LLDPE/RH composites experienced less permanent deformation as compared to untreated LLDPE/RH composites. Besides, at dynamic loading, the fracture surface analysis of the treated composites showed good attachment between RH and LLDPE.

Herein, the effects of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on the mechanical and dielectric performance of hybrid carbon nanotube-woven glass fiber (GF) reinforced epoxy laminated composited are investigated. CNTs are deposited on woven GF surface using an electrospray deposition method which is rarely reported in the past. The woven GF deposited with CNT and without deposited with CNT are used to produce epoxy laminated composites using a vacuum assisted resin transfer moulding. The tensile, flexural, dielectric constant and dielectric loss properties of the epoxy laminated composites were then characterized. The results confirm that the mechanical and dielectric properties of the woven glass fiber reinforced epoxy laminated composited increases with the addition of CNTs. Field emission scanning electron microscope is used to examine the post damage analysis for all tested specimens. Based on this finding, it can be prominently identified some new and significant information of interest to researchers and industrialists working on GF based products.