Issue 50

G.V. Seretis et alii, Frattura ed Integrità Strutturale, 50 (2019) 517-525; DOI: 10.3221/IGF-ESIS.50.43 517 Focused on the research activities of the Greek Society of Experimental Mechanics of Materials Multi-parameter analysis of curing cycle for GNPs/glass fabric/ epoxy laminated nanocomposites Georgios V. Seretis National Technical University of Athens, School of Mechanical Engineering, 15780 Zografou, Athens, Greece ELVALHALCOR S.A., Copper Tubes Division (HALCOR), 32011, Oinofyta, Viotia, Greece gio.seretis@yahoo.com / gseretis@halcor.com, http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2824-3576 Aikaterini K. Polyzou, Dimitrios E. Manolakos, Christopher G. Provatidis National Technical University of Athens, School of Mechanical Engineering, 15780 Zografou, Athens, Greece k.polyzou@gmail.com; manolako@central.ntua.gr ; cprovat@central.ntua.gr A BSTRACT . In this study, a multi-parameter analysis, using Taguchi method for design of experiments, has been conducted to investigate the optimum curing conditions for GNPs/E-glass fabric/epoxy laminated nanocomposites. The independent variables in the L 25 Taguchi orthogonal array were heating rate, curing temperature and curing time, addressing five levels each. Tensile and 3-point bending tests were performed for each experiment number (run number) of the Taguchi L 25 . The analysis shown that the most significant para- meter for tensile strength is the time and for flexural strength is the tempera- ture. Also, it shown that the optimum performance was obtained for tempera- ture values greater than the glass transition temperature T g . K EYWORDS . Polymer-matrix composites; Nanocomposites; Graphene nano- platelets; Curing; Mechanical testing; Multi-parameter analysis. Citation: Seretis, G.V., Polyzou, A.K., Mano- lakos, D.E., Provatidis, C.G., Multi-parameter analysis of curing cycle for GNPs/glass fabric/ epoxy laminated nanocomposites, Frattura ed Integrità Strutturale, 50 (2019) 517-525. Received: 19.01.2019 Accepted: 22.05.2019 Published: 01.10.2019 Copyright: © 2019 This is an open access article under the terms of the CC-BY 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. I NTRODUCTION omposites of epoxy matrix are of the most commonly used polymer matrix composites. For this kind of composites several different types of reinforcement have been tested. However, the reinforcing material is not the only signifi- cant factor for the final properties of the produced epoxy matrix composites. The curing process, due to the great number of properties it affects or controls [1,2], also plays a key role. For this reason, to accurately control the results of a curing process, it is necessary to understand the effects of all the affecting parameters. Therefore, the parameters which are known to affect a curing process, such as curing temperature and time, have been widely investigated [3-10]. For example, the relation between the curing temperature (T cure ) and the glass transition temperature (T g ) has been found to controls the applied curing mechanism and, therefore, it is of great importance [11]. Also, related research works have been focused on alternative curing processes [12-14], such as curing using microwaves. C