Development of Laminated Composites with Improved Toughness

The purpose of this thesis is the development of a tailored composite material suitable for naval applications even in colder environments. To accomplish this objective, the toughness of Atlac® 580, a bisphenol A based vinyl ester urethane thermosetting resin, has been improved with the use of core-shell rubbers (CSR); then, to develop a tougher laminated composite, glass fabrics have been used as reinforcements. The first phase dealed with the characterisation and choice of the manufacturing method of the neat resin to minimize defects into the samples. Tensile, flexural, impact and fracture tougheness tests were carried out in order to evaluate the mechanical properties, while a DSC thermal analysis was performed to investigate the thermal behaviour of the resin. In the second phase, glass fibers have been added to the neat resin in order to manufacture a reference laminated composite. In the third phase, CSR particles were added to Atlac® 580 in compositions ranging from 5 wt. % to 15 wt. % to increase its tougheness. The optimal CSR content was evaluated through mechanical, viscometric and morphological tests, and it was found to be 10 wt. %. Finally, three different types of glass fibers were added to the optimized resin-CSR system, studying thermomechanical, morphological and impact properties. The results obtained show that the properties of the toughend resin composite are superior with respect to the reference composite, indicating an improvement in its performance.