Effect of sizing and surface treatment on carbon fiber mechanical composite performance

This study investigated the effects of modified surface chemistry and treatments to improve carbon fiber bonding to epoxy matrices for improved mechanical performance in carbon fiber composite parts for the aerospace industry

Effect of Fabric Reinforcement on the Flexural Properties of EPS-Core Surfboard Constructions

Effect of Fabric Reinforcement on the Flexural Properties of EPS-Core Surfboard Construction

Bioinspired Hard–Soft Interface Management for Superior Performance in Carbon Fibre Composites

Nature has evolved to create materials of unmatched performance governed by the interfacial interactions between hard and soft surfaces. Typically, in a carbon fibre composite, one polymer and one type of carbon fibre is used throughout a laminate. In this work, we use a carbon fibre surface modification approach to vary the fibre–matrix interface throughout the laminate to tailor the soft–hard interfaces. We demonstrate this effect using reclaimed carbon fibre materials in a thermoset polymer, then extend this concept to a thermoplastic polymer matrix–polypropylene. The thermoset specimens examined in this work consist of 5 carbon fibre plies, featuring 0, 1, 3 or 5 surface-modified layers located at the centre of the composite. The largest improvements in physical properties for these composites (yield strength, ultimate flexural strength, and tensile modulus) were found when only 1 modified layer of carbon fibre was placed directly within the centre of the composite. Subsequent investigations revealed that for a polypropylene matrix, where the surface chemistry is tailored specifically for polypropylene, improvements are also observed when mixed surface chemistries are used. This work shows that surface modification of reclaimed carbon fibres as non-woven mats can provide significant improvements in mechanical properties performance for structural composites when used in strategically advantageous locations throughout the composite

An Experimental Investigation of the Mechanical Performance of EPS Foam Core Sandwich Composites Used in Surfboard Design

Surfboard manufacturing has begun to utilise Expanded Polystyrene as a core material; however, surf literature relatively ignores this material. This manuscript investigates the mechanical behaviour of Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) sandwich composites. An epoxy resin matrix was used to manufacture ten sandwich-structured composite panels with varying fabric reinforcements (carbon fibre, glass fibre, PET) and two foam densities. The flexural, shear, fracture, and tensile properties were subsequently compared. Under common flexural loading, all composites failed via compression of the core, which is known in surfing terms as creasing. However, crack propagation tests indicated a sudden brittle failure in the E-glass and carbon fibre facings and progressive plastic deformation for the recycled polyethylene terephthalate facings. Testing showed that higher foam density increased the flex and fracture mechanical properties of composites. Overall, the plain weave carbon fibre presented the highest strength composite facing, while the single layer of E-glass was the lowest strength composite. Interestingly, the double-bias weave carbon fibre with a lower-density foam core presented similar stiffness behaviour to standard E-glass surfboard materials. The double-biased carbon also improved the flexural strength (+17%), material toughness (+107%), and fracture toughness (+156%) of the composite compared to E-glass. These findings indicate surfboard manufacturers can utilise this carbon weave pattern to produce surfboards with equal flex behaviour, lower weight and improved resistance to damage in regular loading

Using variable interfacial adhesion characteristics within a composite to improve flexural strength and decrease fiber volume

L’amulette pourrait être considérée comme le stade primitif du talisman en ce qu’elle protège contre un mal indéfini, alors que celui-ci, surtout lorsqu’il est écrit, serait plus spécifique. Le mot amulette recouvre en fait plusieurs acceptions. La première traduit ses vertus apotropaïques : l’amulette sert à repousser les dangers, les maladies les mauvaises influences produites le plus souvent par l’envie qui peut se résumer dans la notion assez vague mais très répandue du « mauvais œil », é..