Open Journal of Composite Materials, 2020, 10, 27-44 https://www.scirp.org/journal/ojcm ISSN Online: 2164-5655 ISSN Print: 2164-5612 DOI: 10.4236/ojcm.2020.102003 Apr. 30, 2020 27 Open Journal of Composite Materials The Reinforcing Effect of Graphene on the Mechanical Properties of Carbon-Epoxy Composites Hadimani Shivakumar 1,2 , N. M. Renukappa 2* , K. N. Shivakumar 3 , B. Suresha 4* 1 Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Kalpataru Institute of Technology (Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belagavi) Tiptur, Karnataka, India 2 Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, JSS Science and Technology University, Mysuru, Karnataka, India 3 Centers for Composite Materials Research, North Carolina A & T State University, Greensboro, NC, USA 4 Center for Composite Materials Research, The National Institute of Engineering, Mysuru, India Abstract Graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) are novel nanofillers holding attractive cha- racteristics, including vigorous compatibility with majority polymers, out- standing mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties. In this study, the outstanding GNPs filler was reinforced to the epoxy matrix and carbon fa- bric/epoxy hybrid composite slabs to enrich their mechanical properties. Graphene nanoplatelets of 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2 weight percentages were inte- grated into the epoxy and the physico-mechanical (microstructure, density, tensile, flexural and impact strength) properties were investigated. Further- more, the mechanical properties of unfilled and 1 wt% GNPs filled carbon fabric/epoxy hybrid composite slabs were investigated. Subsequently, note- worthy improvement in the mechanical properties was conquered for the carbon fabric/epoxy hybrid composites. Keywords Graphene Nanoplatelets, Carbon Fabric/Epoxy Hybrid Composite, Physico-Mechanical Properties, Impact Strength 1. Introduction Over the past few years, extensive research has been carried out in polymer based composites, especially the thermoset epoxy matrix material strengthened with synthetic fibers and nanofillers, chiefly owing to the noteworthy enrich- ment of mechanical, thermo-mechanical, and electrical properties at a very low How to cite this paper: Shivakumar, H., Renukappa, N.M., Shivakumar, K.N. and Suresha, B. (2020) The Reinforcing Effect of Graphene on the Mechanical Properties of Carbon-Epoxy Composites. Open Jour- nal of Composite Materials, 10, 27-44. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojcm.2020.102003 Received: April 10, 2020 Accepted: April 27, 2020 Published: April 30, 2020 Copyright © 2020 by author(s) and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY 4.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Open Access