Determination of transverse flexural and shear moduli of chopped carbon fiber tape-reinforced thermoplastic by vibration

Abstract

Chopped carbon fiber tape-reinforced thermoplastic material is specifically developed for the high-volume production of lightweight automobiles. With excellent design processability and flexibility, the carbon fiber tape-reinforced thermoplastic material is manufactured by compressing large amounts of randomly oriented, pre-impregnated unidirectional tapes in a plane. Therefore, the carbon fiber tape-reinforced thermoplastic material presents transversely isotropic properties. Transverse shear effect along the thickness direction of carbon fiber tape-reinforced thermoplastic beam has a distinct influence on its flexural deformation. Accordingly, the Timoshenko beam theory combined with vibration frequencies was proposed to determine the set of transverse flexural and shear moduli. Meanwhile, the transverse flexural and shear moduli of carbon fiber tape-reinforced thermoplastic beam were finally determined by fitting all the first seven measured and calculated eigenfrequencies with the least squares criterion. In addition, the suggested thickness to length ratio for the 3-point bending test and Euler–Bernoulli model was given.