Effect of Varying Initial Processing Temperature on Mechanical Properties of Carbon Epoxy Composites

Abstract

Use of composite materials for structural application has greatly flourished in last three decades. Mechanical properties of carbon composite are largely dependent on the processing parameters like processing temperature, compaction pressure, resin flow and fiber orientation. Processing temperature has an important and decisive role in defining the properties of the composites and absence of proper temperature can cause reduced mechanical properties and defects like wrinkles and voids. This study focuses on varying the initial processing temperature for carbon laminates and documents the effect on mechanical properties of the composite produced. The testing range of temperature was specified by the choice of resin. It was found that the mechanical properties like tensile, bending and shear strength increased non-linearly with increasing initial temperature of processing. Increase of fiber volume fraction, fiber weight fraction and density were observed which along with better resin distribution, resin flow and increased laminate compaction can be attributed as key reasons of increased mechanical properties