Work

Comparison of flexural properties of two different CFRPs before and after low-velocity impact: T1000 vs T300 interleaved with micro-/nano- Aramid fibers

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: T1000 carbon fibers are far superior to T300 fibers in tension, but the performance of bulk T1000 composites can be matched by bulk T300 composites interleaved with sparsely distributed micro-/nano- Aramid pulp (AP) fibers. In this study, we focus not only on the short-beam shear strength but also on the flexural strength of T1000 and T300-AP composites before and after impact, as these properties are critical indicators of structural performance under bending-dominated loading conditions. Maintaining the AP-epoxy interlayer thickness at 8 μm or less, with AP areal densities of 2, 4 and 6 gram/m 2 , leads to improvements of up to 38% in short-beam shear strength and 55% in flexural strength for the T300-AP composites, surpassing the performance of plain T1000 composites without such AP-interfacial toughening. These findings highlight the importance of interfacial design and quasi-Z-directional fiber bridging in CFRPs, demonstrating that resin-rich layers between carbon fiber plies as thin as 15 μm can be transformed into mechanically interlocked ply interfaces through AP-interfacial toughening, thereby bringing the structural performance of T300-AP composites to parity with that of T1000 composites.

Source: Composites Science and Technology

DOI: 10.1016/j.compscitech.2025.111428

Authors: Mingxin Ye, Yabin Deng, Yunsen Hu, Xiaozhi Hu

Institutions: The University of Western Australia, Hunan University, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology

Language: English

Topic: Mechanical Behavior of Composites

Subfield: Mechanics of Materials

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $4,610

Funders: Forrest Research Foundation, National Natural Science Foundation of China