Influence of thermal spiking on properties of carbon fibre reinforced plastic

A study has been made of the effect of thermal spiking on the strength and thermomechanical behaviour of Fibredux 914C/T300 and Fibredux 914C/XAS carbon fibre reinforced plastic materials. The unidirectional material was aged in a hot humid atmosphere before thermally spiking up to 130°C. The thermomechanical behaviour was measured using the torsion pendulum technique and interlaminar shear, compression, and transverse tensile tests at room temperature and 120°C. Shear strength was measured by short beam bending. The static and dynamic values obtained were found to be independent of the spiking cycle but strongly dependent on the amount of absorbed moisture. At the test temperature of 120°C, the interlaminar shear strength slightly decreased as spiking was done at 130°C. Microcracking and/or some unknown effects could be responsible for the observed small decrease in interlaminar shear values.Publisher's Versio