Damping assessment of new multifunctional epoxy resin for aerospace structures

The increasing demand for more advanced materials, particularly in the aerospace field, has led to the development of carbon-fiber-reinforced composite manufactured employing different kinds of nanoparticles. The reinforcement with Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) allows the modulation of several characteristics of the composite, which becomes suitable for more extreme operating conditions. Furthermore, the incorporation of CNTs in polymeric matrices of composite materials allows them to be electrically conductive, and hence suitable for developing self-responsive/self-protective materials characterized by a combination of properties strongly requested for replacing the traditional composites. In addition, detection of specific electrical properties can be used to develop self health-monitor composites subjected to damages due to static and dynamic loads. For instance, damage detection through conductivity measurements offers many advantages when compared to traditional glass fiber optic sensors. In fact, because of their high cost, it is not possible to create a dense network of these fibers to inspect large parts of the composite and especially if the damage spreads in the material without crossing the fiber. Therefore, the use of carbon nanotubes may provide an effective solution to overcome the described limitation. As part of an intensive research activity aimed at studying the performance of innovative smart resins, in this article, the authors show the outcomes related to some of the dynamic properties of the developed resins. Relevant results related to the enhancement of dissipative phenomena have been found in formulation modified with elastomeric phase e CNTs.