Influence of electrospun Nylon6,6 nanofibrous mats to the interlaminar strength of Carbon Fiber-Epoxy composite laminates: experimental and numerical analyses

The effect of Nylon 6,6 electrospun nanofibers interleaved in composite laminate material is numerically simulated to investigate the damage evolution a nanomodified laminate interface. DCB and ENF mechanical test results from a previous work of the authors are used as benchmark for numerical simulations: carbon fiber/epoxy matrix 0/90 prepreg laminate are simulated and mechanical properties are determined for both virgin and nanomodified configurations. Numerical simulation with finite element software Abaqus using implicit time integration were performed to build a numerical model to simulate both the tests taking into account the presence on nanofibers. Nanofibrous interlayer was simulated using a bilinear damage law corresponding to resin a nanofibrous materials behavior. Virgin and nanomodified configuration for experimental and numerical results are compared and it is shown that numerical results are in good agreement with experimental ones