PSI - Issue 61

J.M. Parente et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 61 (2024) 285–290 Author name / Structural Integrity Procedia 00 (2019) 000 – 000

289

5

resin and are in line with those obtained in the bending tests. The results observed agree with the literature Uzay et al. (2022)).

Fig. 3. Microhardness versus cure temperature.

4. Conclusion This study analyzed the effect of carbon nanofibers (CNFs) on two different epoxy resins. The results allowed concluding that the addition of carbon nanofibers increased the viscosity of both resins. The values obtained for the contact angles demonstrated a good wetting between resin and CNFs, while the presence of carbon nanofibers reduced the shrinkage effect compared to the neat resins. Finally, it was concluded that the mechanical properties significantly depend on the cure temperature. For the range of temperatures studied, the temperature of 5°C was the one that promoted highest flexural strength and modulus, while the higher one leads to greater flexural strains and microhardness. Acknowledgements J.M. Parente thanks FCT — Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia for the grant UI/BD/151477/2021 (https://doi.org/10.54499/UI/BD/151477/2021). This work was supported by the following projects and organizations: Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P. (FCT, I.P.) FCT/MCTES through national funds (PIDDAC) under the R&D Unit C-MAST/Center for Mechanical and Aerospace Science and Technologies, reference: UIDB/00151/2020 (https://doi.org/10.54499/UIDB/00151/2020) and UIDP/00151/2020 (https://doi.org/10.54499/UIDP/00151/2020). This research was also sponsored by national funds through FCT Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia under the projects UIDB/00285/2020 and LA/P/0112/2020. References Al-Saleh, M. H. and U. Sundararaj (2011). "Review of the mechanical properties of carbon nanofiber/polymer composites." Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing 42 (12): 2126-2142. Bal, S. (2010). "Experimental study of mechanical and electrical properties of carbon nanofiber/epoxy composites." Materials & Design 31 (5): 2406-2413. Feng, L., N. Xie and J. Zhong (2014). "Carbon Nanofibers and Their Composites: A Review of Synthesizing, Properties and Applications." Materials 7 (5): 3919-3945. Jiménez-Suárez, A., M. Campo, M. Sánchez, C. Romón and A. Ureña (2012). "Dispersion of carbon nanofibres in a low viscosity resin by calendering process to manufacture multiscale composites by VARIM." Composites Part B: Engineering 43 (8): 3104-3113.