Short Carbon Fibers Composites With High Filler Contents Rheology and Mechanical Properties

Abstract

The control of the quality of mixture based on very short carbon fibers and epoxyde resins leads to suitable mixture for molding of complex geometries. A gain in fluidity is obtained if the suspensions are treated by ultrasounds and simultaneously stirred under vacuum. Addition in a very small ratio of microbubbles in the mixture allows to obtain a viscosity less than those of the matrix alone. For many polymer materials the gain of fluidity can be of 20 to 25% with size and concentration of the microspheres thoroughly chosen. A certain number of new resins is developped to elaborate composite materials with specific mechanical properties close to standard aluminium. Tensile test an ultimate stress are used to quantify the improvements of the mechanical properties. Fillers concentrations up to 30 % are obtained.