Fatigue and Mechanical Properties of Graphene Nanoplatelets Reinforced Nr/Epdm Nanocomposites

Abstract

Engine mounting suffers from fluctuating forces which may results in sudden failure due to fatigue. Graphene nanoplatelets have attracted great interest due to their exceptional physical, mechanical and thermal properties. Natural rubber/ethylene propylene diene monomer (NR/EPDM) reinforced with graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) were investigated to improve the properties of NR/EPDM blend prior to fatigue and mechanical properties for engine mounting service. Firstly, the NR/EPDM blends and nanocomposite were tested for tensile properties and followed by the fatigue properties (tensile mode) using displacement-controlled. Tensile plot shows that the NR/EPDM nanocomposite has higher tensile value of 95% compared to NR/EPDM blend. The S-N curve illustrates that NR/EPDM blend and NR/EPDM nanocomposite break by the same cycle which is 100 000 cycles. The fracture behaviour of loading conditions was supported via morphological analysis using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis.