Interlaminar fracture toughness and conductivity of carbon fiber/epoxy resin composite laminate modified by carbon black-loaded polypropylene non-woven fabric interleaves. (15th February 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wang, Jing; Ma, Chuanguo; Chen, Guan; Dai, Peibang
• Is Part Of: Composite structures. Volume 234(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-02-15
• Subjects: PP nonwoven interleaving -- Carbon black -- Fracture toughness -- Electrical conductivity -- Laminate; Composite construction -- Periodicals; Composites -- Périodiques; 624.18
• DOI: 10.1016/j.compstruct.2019.111649
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0263-8223

Abstract

Abstract: Polypropylene nonwoven fabric (PPNWF) loaded with conductive carbon black (CB@PPNWF) was prepared by manually brushing method, and then was used as interleaf material to improve the Mode I interlaminar fracture toughness ( G IC ) and interlaminar conductivity of carbon fiber/epoxy resin (CF/EP) composite laminate. The effects of post-treatment temperature and pressure on the properties of the composites, and the microstructure and relevant enhancement mechanism of the composite were investigated systematically. The results show that although PPNWF is a typical non-polar polymer with weak interfacial interaction with EP, CB@PPNWF has significantly improved the G IC of CF/EP composite laminate without reducing the interlaminar conductivity by means of the synergistic effects of CB particles and PPNWF. At post-treatment temperature of 80 °C and pressure of 3 MPa, compared to that of the control sample, the initial G IC (0.66 kJ/m 2 ) and the propagation G IC (1.18 kJ/m 2 ) of CB@PPNWF/CF/EP composite laminate were increased by 91.3% and 136%, respectively. The toughening mechanism mainly includes the deflection of matrix crack, the interface debonding of CB particles, the interfacial interaction enhancement of PP/EP by CB particles, and the bridging, pulling out and breakage of PP fibers.