Date of Award

Spring 2023

Access Type

Thesis - Open Access

Degree Name

Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering

Department

Aerospace Engineering

Committee Chair

Marwan S. Al-Haik

First Committee Member

Ali Y. Tamijani

Second Committee Member

Sirish Namilae

College Dean

James W. Gregory

Abstract

The increase in the use of carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRPs) composites in the aerospace industry generated the need of improving the properties and capabilities of these composites by adding nano-reinforcements to the carbon fibers, also called hybrid fiber reinforced polymer composites. In this study, the energy absorption due to impact at low speed will be tested and simulated in four configurations of CFRPs utilizing the same [0/90]S layout throughout them.

The carbon fiber configurations used during this study are de-sized, acid-activated, metal-organic frameworks (MOF), and carbon nanotubes (CNTs). Nickel (II) Nitrate, Methylimidazole, and Methanol were used to grow the MOF nano-reinforcement on the carbon fibers; On the other hand, CNTs were grown by reducing the MOF on the carbon fibers and using Ethylene (C2H4), Nitrogen (N2), and Hydrogen (H2) to grow CNTs on the carbon fibers.

To evaluate the composites’ mechanical properties, such as tensile tests and impact tests were performed; Furthermore, a dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) was performed to assess the dynamic properties of the composites manufactured. Lastly, an impact simulation was performed on LS-Dyna utilizing the properties obtained in the mechanical testing performed. The results obtained proposed that an appropriate combination and recipe of MOF growth could potentially increase the energy absorption of carbon fiber-reinforced polymers.

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