Improved out-of-plane strength and weight reduction using hybrid interface composites

Publication date: Available online 12 July 2019Source: Composites Science and TechnologyAuthor(s): Filip Stojcevski, Daniel J. Eyckens, James D. Randall, Lucas I. Marinovic, Gaspard Méric, Luke C. HendersonAbstractCarbon fiber composites with increased fiber-to-matrix bonding are often susceptible to premature failure due to the creation of overly rigid interfaces. This paper investigates the use of electrochemically functionalised carbon fibers used in novel ‘hybrid interface’ arrangements to improve out-of-plane bending. An improvement of 103.6% in single fiber interfacial shear strength (IFSS) was able to improve out-of-plane strength by 33.6% for short beam shear laminates. However, by combining both functionalised and non-functionalised fibers in complex hybrid interface arrangements such as nature inspired turtle-shell interfaces and circular patterns, mechanical performance was improve significantly. A 170.9% increase to out-of-plane strength was observed using a turtle-shell arrangement which correlated to an 8.7% reduction in composite weight as compared to control fibers.

Source: Composites Science and Technology - July 12, 2019 Category: Science Source Type: research