Effectiveness of Buckminster Fullerene Reinforcement on Mechanical Properties of FRP Composites

Abstract In the present work a micromechanical study is carried out to evaluate the longitudinal and transverse properties of nanobased composite materials. The analysis is performed by selecting two different fibres (T-300, Boron) which are reinforced in nano based matrix. The nano-sized reinforcement considered for the present work is buckminster fullerene. The fullerene is idealized as a hollow sphere with uniform thickness. The analysis is performed in two stages. In the first stage the buckminster fullerene reinforced composite material properties are obtained using continuum approach and in the second stage the analysis is extended by reinforcing the T-300, Boron fiber in buckminster fullerene reinforced composite to characterize the mechanical behavior. The finite element method is used to perform the micromechanical analysis of the composite material. Better enhancement in the transverse properties of the composite material is observed by buckminster fullerene in FRP composites.