TY - JOUR
T1 - Enhancing the fracture toughness of carbon fibre/epoxy composites by interleaving hybrid meltable/non-meltable thermoplastic veils
AU - Quan, Dong
AU - Alderliesten, René
AU - Dransfeld, Clemens
AU - Murphy, Neal
AU - Ivanković, Alojz
AU - Benedictus, Rinze
PY - 2020/11/15
Y1 - 2020/11/15
N2 - Interlaying thermoplastic veils into carbon fibre/epoxy composites has proved to significantly increase the interlaminar fracture toughness. The main toughening mechanism is thermoplastic fibre bridging for the non-meltable veils and matrix toughening for the meltable veils. Herein, to take advantage of different toughening mechanisms, hybrid meltable/non-meltable thermoplastic veils were used to interlay two types of aerospace-grade composites produced from unidirectional (UD) prepregs and resin transfer moulding of non-crimp carbon fibre fabrics (NCF). The mode-I and mode-II fracture behaviour of the interleaved laminates were investigated. The experimental results demonstrated outstanding toughening performance of the hybrid veils for the mode-I fracture behaviour of the UD laminates and for both of the mode-I and mode-II fracture behaviour of the NCF laminates, resulting from the combination of different toughening mechanisms. For example, the maximum increases in the mode-I and mode-II fracture energies of the NCF laminates were observed to be 273% and 206%, respectively.
AB - Interlaying thermoplastic veils into carbon fibre/epoxy composites has proved to significantly increase the interlaminar fracture toughness. The main toughening mechanism is thermoplastic fibre bridging for the non-meltable veils and matrix toughening for the meltable veils. Herein, to take advantage of different toughening mechanisms, hybrid meltable/non-meltable thermoplastic veils were used to interlay two types of aerospace-grade composites produced from unidirectional (UD) prepregs and resin transfer moulding of non-crimp carbon fibre fabrics (NCF). The mode-I and mode-II fracture behaviour of the interleaved laminates were investigated. The experimental results demonstrated outstanding toughening performance of the hybrid veils for the mode-I fracture behaviour of the UD laminates and for both of the mode-I and mode-II fracture behaviour of the NCF laminates, resulting from the combination of different toughening mechanisms. For example, the maximum increases in the mode-I and mode-II fracture energies of the NCF laminates were observed to be 273% and 206%, respectively.
KW - Carbon fibre/epoxy composites
KW - Fracture toughness.
KW - Hybrid toughening
KW - Thermoplastic veils
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85088818514&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.compstruct.2020.112699
DO - 10.1016/j.compstruct.2020.112699
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85088818514
SN - 0263-8223
VL - 252
JO - Composite Structures
JF - Composite Structures
M1 - 112699
ER -