Enhancement of chopped fibers on welding strength of composites

Abstract

The enhancement of chopped fiber as a reinforcing agent on the welding interface of composite materials was explored. Glass fiber reinforced polyetherimide (GF/PEI) laminate was joined using the pulse resistance welding technology, using a stainless steel (SS) mesh as the heating element. A single lap shear test was performed on the weldments of aramid fiber (AF), glass fiber (GF), and carbon fiber (CF) as reinforcing agents to evaluate the strength of the welded joint. The results show that the fiber achieves the welding interface strengthening by cooperating with the SS mesh heating element to contribute to the mechanical properties of the welded joint. Fracture analysis shows that under the reinforcement of fiber, the main failure mode in the initial stage of welding is fiber and matrix debonding. When the strength of the weldment achieves the best, the failure mode is changed into the simultaneous tearing of SS mesh heating element and fiber tear.

Keywords

• chopped fiber
• resistance welding
• polyetherimide
• single lap shear test
• failure mode