# Effects of silicon carbide nanoparticles on mechanical and vibrational characteristics of carbon glass epoxy hybrid composites

## TL;DR

Adding 3% silicon carbide nanoparticles to carbon/glass fiber composites improves their strength, stiffness, and sound absorption, making them ideal for lightweight aerospace and transport materials.

## Contribution

The study identifies 3 wt% SiC as the optimal nanoparticle concentration for enhancing mechanical and acoustic properties of hybrid composites.

## Key findings

- 3 wt% SiC improved tensile strength by 19.05%, flexural strength by 15.22%, and impact strength by 7.65%.
- SEM analysis confirmed better fiber-matrix interaction at 3 wt% SiC with minimal defects.
- 5 wt% SiC showed reduced mechanical performance due to agglomeration and weaker bonding.

## Abstract

This study presents an experimental investigation into the mechanical, vibrational, and acoustic properties of carbon/glass fibre-reinforced epoxy hybrid laminates embedded with varying weight percentages of silicon carbide (SiC) nanoparticles. The laminates were fabricated using compression moulding, with a six-layer alternating stacking sequence of carbon and glass fibres. A comprehensive series of tests was conducted to assess flexural strength, tensile behaviour, impact resistance, free-vibration characteristics, and sound-absorption performance. Mechanical tests revealed that the laminate with 3 wt% SiC achieved the highest tensile strength of 258.8 MPa, flexural strength of 292.6 MPa, Young’s modulus of 19.13 GPa, and impact strength of 67.9 kJ/m2, indicating optimal reinforcement and efficient stress transfer due to uniform nanoparticle dispersion. These values correspond to improvements of approximately 19.05%, 15.22%, 15.37%, and 7.65%, respectively, compared to the unreinforced (0 wt%) composite. SEM analysis substantiated the improved fibre–matrix interaction and the minimal microstructural defects at the optimal filler content. Conversely, the 5 wt% SiC specimens exhibited reduced mechanical performance, attributed to particle agglomeration and weakened interfacial bonding. Vibration analysis indicated a peak in stiffness and natural frequency at 3 wt% SiC, while damping behaviour declined with increasing filler loading. Acoustic testing showed enhanced transmission loss with increasing SiC content, with 5 wt% yielding the best sound-attenuation performance. The study concludes that incorporating SiC nanoparticles into carbon/glass hybrid composites significantly improves their multifunctional performance when the filler content is optimized, with the 3 wt% SiC composition offering the best balance between strength, stiffness, and acoustic efficiency.This advances SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure) by developing resilient, lightweight composites for sustainable aerospace/transport infrastructure, reducing emissions via efficiency gains.