Recycled carbon fibre mats for interlayer toughening of carbon fibre/epoxy composites

Dong Quan; Ujala Farooq; Guoqun Zhao; Clemens Dransfeld; René Alderliesten

Materials & Design (Jun 2022)

Recycled carbon fibre mats for interlayer toughening of carbon fibre/epoxy composites

Dong Quan,
Ujala Farooq,
Guoqun Zhao,
Clemens Dransfeld,
René Alderliesten

Affiliations

Dong Quan: Key Laboratory for Liquid-Solid Structural Evolution and Processing of Materials (Ministry of Education), Shandong University, China; Department of Aerospace Structures and Materials, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands; Corresponding authors at: Key Laboratory for Liquid-Solid Structural Evolution and Processing of Materials (Ministry of Education), Shandong University, China (D. Quan).
Ujala Farooq: Department of Aerospace Structures and Materials, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands
Guoqun Zhao: Key Laboratory for Liquid-Solid Structural Evolution and Processing of Materials (Ministry of Education), Shandong University, China
Clemens Dransfeld: Department of Aerospace Structures and Materials, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands
René Alderliesten: Department of Aerospace Structures and Materials, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands; Corresponding authors at: Key Laboratory for Liquid-Solid Structural Evolution and Processing of Materials (Ministry of Education), Shandong University, China (D. Quan).

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 218
p. 110671

Abstract

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Exploring routes for the effective use of recycled carbon fibres (rCFs) is critical to close the loop in the life cycle of carbon fibres. This work demonstrated a potential of using rCFs for interlayer toughening of carbon fibre/epoxy composites. Nonwoven mats based on rCFs and commingled rCFs/Polyphenylene-sulfid (PPS) fibres were used to interlay a laminate, aiming to improve the mode-I and mode-II fracture toughness. The experimental results proved significant enhancements in the interlaminar fracture properties upon interleaving, with the rCF/PPS mats exhibiting a more prominent toughening effectiveness than the rCF mats. For example, the maximum increase in mode-I and mode-II fracture initiation energies of the laminates was 51% and 66%, respectively upon interleaving the rCF mats, and 220% and 105%, respectively by adding the rCFs/PPS mats. The fractography analysis proved that the main toughening mechanisms were fibre debonding and pulling-out for the rCF mats and fibre bridging for the commingled rCFs/PPS mats. The differences in the toughening mechanisms resulted in opposite effects of the interlayer/epoxy adhesion to the fracture toughness, i.e. an improved interlayer/epoxy adhesion increased the toughening effectiveness of the rCF mats, but negatively affected the toughening performance of the rCF/PPS mats.

Published in Materials & Design

ISSN: 0264-1275 (Print); 1873-4197 (Online)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Technology: Electrical engineering. Electronics. Nuclear engineering: Materials of engineering and construction. Mechanics of materials
Website: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/materials-and-design

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