The application of thermoplastic composites (TPCs) in aircraft application is expanding. This paper presents a study of the effect of layering thickness of Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polyphenylene Sulfide, CF/PPS. There are 2 thickness of plies which are 6 plies and 8 plies of 1.90 mm and 2.52 mm respectively. To update, the aircraft is now ready to shift from thermoset to thermoplastics composite materials. In parallel to the technology, mechanical, thermal and physical properties of the advanced thermoplastic materials CF/PPS are to be determined. By having towards the behavior and properties, thus the incoming material CF/PPS data could be compared to the current nominal of epoxy thermoset structural for aircraft which is benefit to the aircraft industries purpose. In this study, it was found that, for mechanical properties, Tensile Strength, Flexural Modulus as well as Vickers Hardness recorded 6 plies higher value compared to 8 plies. While, Impact Strength, Interlaminar Shear Strength, (ILSS) and Compressive Strength shown that 8 plies obtained the superior reading compared to 6 plies. For physical properties, the density of 6 plies and 8 plies recorded 1.541 and 1.547 respectively. Content as a percentage of the initial mass of fibre, (%) recorded 6 plies was 58.397% while 8 plies was 58.235 %. Fibre content as a percentage of the initial volume, (%) recorded 6 plies was 50.838% while 8 plies was 50.885%. Void content as a percentage of the initial volume, (%) recorded 6 plies was 1.678% while 8 plies was 1.268%. While, for the thermal analysis, both samples of CF/PPS have good thermal stability material in aerospace applications as the weight for both plies CF/PPS are observed as the function of temperature (high heat energy applied). Glass Transition Temperature ( was 93.75°C for 6 plies while 8 plies recorded 93.94°C. Melting Temperature, recorded 283.68°C for 6 plies whereas 283.61°C for 8 plies. The morphological analysis under Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) shows that 6 plies had a lot of fibre pull out compared to 8 plies thus agreed that impact strength was higher on 8 plies over 6 plies.

Out of autoclave composite manufacturing is a process that achieves same quality as an autoclave process but through different method and one of them is thermoforming process in which, it can save the process cost and time. Recently, the fabrication process to fabricate thermoplastic composites by using thermoforming method becoming more popular among the thermoplastic research area. The simulation process is applied to enable the prediction of defects as well as to study the behavior of the process at early stage using simulation analysis to avoid trial and error during fabrication. To simulate the simulation, there are several factors and parameters need to be considered so that the defects could be avoided due to the excellent and poor formability will be linked between the fabricated samples in Aniform and the manufactured products. In this study, Two-Folded Clip panel mold type has been chosen to simulate the fabrication process. The results show the tensioner of AUY-50 is the best tensioner to be used in this research due to the significant of the result of press formed laminate quality with no voids appeared.

Aerospace industry is seeking thermoplastic composites materials due to several advantages over thermoset material and one of them is mechanical properties. Mechanical properties of thermoplastic composite materials are found to be superior compared to thermoset materials. High strength fibre composites parts are made of several plies with different fibre orientation with a designed balanced of lay-up sequence. Interlaminar Shear Strength (ILSS) is an essential consideration when designing laminated structures exposed to transverse stresses. It is to predict quality and strength of laminate levels of composite due to, composite failure cannot be observed directly to the propagation of single macroscopic crack when subjected to cyclic loading. This test is employed to evaluate both the interfacial adhesion of the matrix and the influence of the reinforcement on the mechanical characteristics of the composite. This study provides the understanding of ILSS test of 2 different thickness for 6 and 8 plies Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polyphenylene Sulfide (CF/PPS) according to the testing standard EN 2563. The results show that 8 plies have higher ILSS properties compared to 6 plies. The fractography of the CF/PPS composite under Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) shows good agreement with the experimental values which was recorded 8 plies can withstand to shear strength of 79 MPa with maximum load applied was 2.738kN while, 6 plies recorded 75 MPa on shear strength with load of 1.971kN. More damage/cracks on 6 plies specimen compared to 8 plies.