Experimental and Computational Evaluation of Graphene-Enhanced Fiberglass/Polyester Nanocomposites

Abstract

A multi-layer fiberglass-reinforced nanocomposite consisting of graphene nanoparticles, polyester resin, along fiberglass reinforcements have been fabricated using a standard templated layup approach. The composite structure is composed of three layers of graphene-reinforced polyester resin, with variable graphene concentrations of 2%, 4%, 6%, and 8% by weight, and two layers of fiberglass to support the specimen structure. The research aimed to study the physical and mechanical behavior of this novel composite material over a combination of experimental testing and numerical simulation. Tensile and compressive tests have been conducted to describe the composite's response under different mechanical loading conditions. The experimental results have shown a significant improvement in tensile strength with the incorporation of graphene nanoparticles and fiberglass into the polyester matrix. Particularly, the sample with 4% wt of graphene content exhibited a 78% increase in tensile strength compared to the unreinforced polyester resin. In contrast, the compressive strength has shown a gradual reduction with increasing graphene content, which was attributed to the inherently brittle behavior of the composite structure under compressive loading. To further validate the experimental findings and assess the overall mechanical performance, a numerical simulation was performed using the finite element analysis software ABAQUS. Numerical simulation has confirmed the trends observed in the experiments and provided insights into the stress distribution and failure mechanisms within the composite. These results have proposed that the hybrid integration of graphene nanoparticles and fiberglass into polyester matrices has offered a promising route for enhancing the tensile performance of polymer-based composites, though considerations must be made for compressive load-bearing applications.