Significant Fatigue Life Enhancement in Multiscale Doubly-Modified Fiber/Epoxy Nanocomposites with Graphene Nanoplatelets and Reduced-Graphene Oxide

We report the fatigue behavior of a novel multiscale fiberglass/epoxy composite modified with reduced-graphene oxide (rGO) and graphene nanoplatelets (GNP). A novel and cost-effective fabrication method based on vacuum assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM) method was used for manufacturing the composite laminates. Morphological and mechanical analysis of composites showed a successful dispersion of nano-fillers and a remarkable improvement in fatigue life of the nanocomposites. The experimental results revealed that all rGO concentrations resulted in a significant increase in fatigue life of the nanocomposites. These enhancements can be explained by the creation of stronger links between the nanoparticles fiberglass and epoxy. The experimental results also showed that lower concentrations of GNPs lead to an increase in fatigue life of nanocomposites; however, a decrease in their fatigue life can be seen at higher loadings.