Development and Characterization of hybrid thermoplastic composites

Abstract

This work is aimed at studying the possibility of using interply hybrid woven thermoplastic semi-pregs in secondary structures in aircrafts at TenCate Advanced Composites, Netherlands and Purdue University. Three different interply hybrids were designed from combination of Cetex © carbon-PPS semi-preg, Owen corning’s woven glass with PPS sheets and discontinuous chopped Cetex © carbon-PPS semi-preg to get desired flexural, out of plane and bearing properties. The design calculations are done based on classical laminate theory and the selection of materials to be used with carbon-PPS was done based on cost and availability. The Hybrid laminate performances are analyzed and compared to the conventional Cetex © Carbon-PPS semi-preg laminates. Observations are reported on three point bend test (European standard 2562), four point bend test(ASTM D6415-99) and bearing test (Airbus standards AITM 1-0009) for the laminates and it was found that hybrid laminates show a reduction of 5-10% in bending stiffness, 20-40% reduction in out-of-plane strength and 2-5%reduction in bearing with a cost reduction of 20-30%. The research identifies and documents the different factors responsible for failures and reduction in strength in the Hybrids