Carbon Plain-Weave Fabric Low-Temperature Vacuum Cure Epoxy Composite: Static and Fatigue Strength at Room and High Temperatures and Practicality Evaluation

Abstract

The high cost of carbon fiber composite materials is a large barrier to their increased application. Low-temperature vacuum cure epoxy resins were developed as one way to break through this barrier. This kind of epoxy is initially cured at low-temperature in a vacuum bag and post-cured at high temperature in an air-circulating oven. This study investigated the static and fatigue mechanical properties of a low-price CFRP of this kind and evaluated its practical utility. The material tested was TRK180M carbon plain-weave-fabric/1053 low-temperature vacuum cure epoxy laminate with quasi-isotropic lay up. Static tests provided tensile and compressive strength of non-hole and open-hole specimens at room and high temperatures up to 110°C. Tension, compression, and tension—compression fatigue tests determined S—N relationships of open-hole specimens at room temperature and 110°C. Static tensile and compressive damage in non-hole specimens and fatigue damage in open-hole specimens for three kinds of fatigue tests were observed with a CCD microscope and a micro X-ray CT scanner. Test results are compared with other published results and discussed from a practical viewpoint. The tests pointed out the evaluation of the strength related to compression loading and sensitive to matrix damage to be very important and demonstrated the sufficient practical utility of this material.

Application Of FBG Sensors For Fatigue Monitoring Of Advanced Polymer Matrix Composites

“…On the other hand, the offaxis properties are matrix-dominated, and the mechanical and failure properties of the matrix are temperature dependent [38]. Similarly, with lay-ups that are more fiber-dominated, such as unidirectional and quasi-isotropic laminates, only a small dependence on temperature was detected [7,8]. PMCs, especially those that exhibit matrix-dominated properties, experience a reduction of longitudinal stiffness, ultimate strength and fatigue life at elevated temperatures (ET) [21,34,38], refer to Figure 5a and b [19].…”

“…However, when two bundles with the same orientation are in contact, cracks can extend between them [4]. Additionally, in the case of woven [0#90] and quasi-isotropic lay-ups, such as [(45#-45)(0#90)] 2s , matrix cracks first appear in the 90° tows and then in 45° tows [7].…”

“…At the present time, the use of commercially available PMCs is limited to 200°C due to the low glass transition temperature of the matrix [5][6][7][8][9][10]. Developments of advanced matrix materials have shown the potential to raise this temperature limit to 300°C, hence giving PMCs the edge to compete with metals for applications at elevated temperatures (ET) [11].…”

Effects of environmental conditions on the axial tension–compression fatigue behavior of carbon/epoxy plain-weave laminates containing flaws

“…20,21 Consequently, these changes will have detrimental effects on the endurance limit and the fatigue life of the material. Several authors 22–27 have reported and validated the aforementioned hygrothermal effects on unidirectional, off-axis, and woven carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) composites from their studies at various temperature and moisture levels where coupons were subjected to static and fatigue tests. Reported hygrothermal effects included: (a) deterioration of fiber/matrix interface, due moisture absorption—especially at the fabrication stage, (b) enhanced damage accumulation rate in materials due to temperature, (c) reduced static strength (tensile and compressive) and fatigue life of the material due to temperature and humidity, (d) significant reduction of the fatigue resistance or performance during fatigue in T – C compared to fatigue in T – T , and (e) significant shrinking of anisomorphic constant fatigue life diagrams with the increase of temperature.…”

G40-800/5260 Carbon Fiber/Bismaleimide Composite Material: High Temperature Characteristics of Static and Fatigue Strengths

“…The temperature in the laboratory was controlled by an air conditioner at around 23°C throughout the year. Static and fatigue tests at high temperatures used an air-circulating environmental chamber (Shimokawa et al, 2007). Elevated temperature tests were mainly conducted at 150°C, as indicated in Since these tests were carried out to determine their temperature dependence, only a few specimens were tested for each case, as shown in Table 1.…”