Experimental Investigation of Mechanical Properties, Fracture Mechanism and Crack Propagation of PA6/NBR/Clay Nanocomposites

Polyamide 6 (PA6)/nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) thermoplastic elastomer reinforced by nanoparticles has several applications in various industries. The addition of nanoparticles to thermoplastic elastomers will affect the tensile strength, impact strength, fracture mechanism and thermal properties of nanocomposites. There are different processes to fabricate these nanocomposites such as extruder, internal mixer, and friction stir process.

PA6/NBR/clay nanocomposites were fabricated by internal mixer (IM) and friction stir process (FSP). The mechanical properties and fracture mechanisms of these nanocomposites were investigated by mechanical testing (tensile, impact, and hardness) and essential work of fracture (EWF) methodology. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to investigate the morphology of samples.

The results indicated that with addition of nanoclay up to 5% in an elastomer containing internal mixer, the tensile strength increased, and beyond 5%, the tensile strength decreased. The friction stir process sample with 7% nanoclay showed a maximum tensile strength of 35.4 MPa. In the friction stir process sample with 7% nanoclay, the tensile modulus and total work of fracture, respectively, increased by 75% and 56%, while in the internal mixer sample, the modulus increased by 50% and total work of fracture decreased by 5%. With the addition of 7% nanoclay to PA6/NBR blend, the impact strength of friction stir process and internal mixer samples decreased by 4 and 18%, respectively. The addition of 7% nanoclay to PA6/NBR blend with friction stir process improved the thermal behavior as the crystallization temperature and melting temperature increased from 195.3 to 197.1°C and 221.3 to 222.5°C, respectively.