Experimental research regarding carbon fiber/epoxy material manufactured by autoclave process

Abstract

The fiber reinforced polymers (FRP) represent a group of materials with a very impressive development in the last time. There are used in different applications from aerospace to sports or medicine. Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) has special properties and tend to replace traditional materials like steel, aluminum alloys or wood. Different procedures were developed to manufacture the CFRP. Autoclave processing can be considered the most important way to obtain the best mechanical properties of this kind of material. In this paper it is presented the autoclave manufacturing process to obtain theCFRP plates. The autoclave polymerization process steps are indicated for the CFRP made of Twill textile prepreg material. The stacking sequence of the layers is [0/90]. To determine the mechanical properties of the material tensile test on standardized specimens was employed. The obtained mechanical material’s properties are comparable with steel but its density was reduced 5.5 times.