TY - JOUR A1 - Lamoriniere, S. A1 - Mitchell, P. J. A1 - Ho, K. A1 - Kalinka, Gerhard A1 - Shaffer, M. S. P. A1 - Bismarck, A. T1 - Carbon nanotube enhanced carbon Fibre-Poly(ether ether ketone) interfaces in model hierarchical composites N2 - Poly (ether ether ketone) (PEEK) has a high continuous service temperature, excellent mechanical properties, and good solvent and abrasion resistance, which can be further improved through the addition of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). CNT-PEEK nanocomposites are promising matrices for continuous carbon fibre composites; powder processing can mitigate the high melt viscosities in these systems. In this study, model single fibre (hierarchical) composites were produced by embedding sized and desized carbon fibres in nanocomposite CNTPEEK powders followed by single fibre pull-out tests to assess interfacial characteristics. Carbon fibre-PEEK interfacial shear strength is typically 40–45 MPa. Increasing CNT loadings increased fibre-matrix interfacial shear strength linearly up to ~70 MPa at 5.0 wt%, which was attributed to the CNT-based mechanical modification of the PEEK matrix. Apparent interfacial shear strength was inversely correlated with the embedded fibre length irrespective of carbon fibre sizing or CNT loading, indicating brittle fracture of the fibre-matrix interface. Pulled out carbon fibres were still coated with the matrix, which indicated strong adhesion at the interface in all samples, likely related to a transcrystalline region. Adhesion was, however, negatively affected by the presence of epoxy sizings. Frictional shear strength was independent of embedded fibre length and CNT content for all samples. KW - Keywords: Poly(ether ether ketone) KW - Carbon fibres KW - Carbon nanotubes KW - Interfacial strength KW - Debonding PY - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-550052 SN - 0266-3538 VL - 221 SP - 1 EP - 8 PB - Elsevier Ltd. CY - Niederlande AN - OPUS4-55005 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gebhardt, M. A1 - Manolakis, I. A1 - Chatterjee, A. A1 - Kalinka, Gerhard A1 - Deubener, J. A1 - Pfnür, H. A1 - Chakraborty, S. A1 - Meiners, D. T1 - Reducing the raw material usage for room temperature infusible and polymerisable thermoplastic CFRPs through reuse of recycled waste matrix material N2 - In this work, a closed loop recycling process is investigated, which allows polymerised bulk thermoplastic matrix (Elium 150) from production waste (also referred to as recyclate) to be reused as additive in composite manufacturing by vacuum assisted resin infusion (VARI) of virgin Elium 150 monomer. It is shown that this process can save up to 7.5 wt% of virgin material usage in each processing cycle. At the same time, the thermal stability and stiffness of the composite increases with the proportion of recyclate introduced. Contemporarily, the shear and bending properties have also been observed to improve. Gel permeation chromatography (GPC) showed that the changes observed are due to an increase in molecular weight with the recyclate content. In particular, a correlation between the molecular weight and the shear properties of the composite was discovered using single fibre push-out tests. KW - Mechanical properties KW - Recycling KW - Carbon fibres KW - Fibre/matrix bond PY - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesb.2021.108877 SN - 1359-8368 VL - 216 SP - 108877 PB - Elsevier Ltd. CY - Niederlande AN - OPUS4-52711 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schartel, Bernhard A1 - Humphrey, J.K. A1 - Gibson, A.G. A1 - Hörold, Andreas A1 - Trappe, Volker A1 - Gettwert, V. T1 - Assessing the structural integrity of carbon-fibre sandwich panels in fire: Bench-scale approach N2 - The fire resistance of lightweight sandwich panels (SW) with carbon fibre/epoxy skins and a poly(methacryl imide) (PMI) foam core is investigated in compression under direct application of a severe flame (heat flux=200 kW m−2). A bench-scale test procedure was used, with the sample held vertically. The epoxy decomposition temperature was quickly exceeded, with rapid flash-over and progressive core softening and decomposition. There is a change in failure mode depending on whether the load is greater or less than 50% of the unexposed failure load, or in other words if one or two skins carry the load. At high loads, failure involved both skins with a single clear linear separation across each face. There is an inflection in the failure time relationship in the ∼50% load region, corresponding to the time taken for heat to be transmitted to the rear face, along with a change in the rear skin failure mode from separation to the formation of a plastic hinge. The integrity of the carbon front face, even with the resin burnt out, and the low thermal diffusivity of the core, both play key roles in prolonging rear face integrity, something to be borne in mind for future panel design. Intumescent coatings prolong the period before failure occurs. The ratio of times to failure with and without protection is proposed as a measure of their effectiveness. Apart from insulation properties, their adhesion and stability under severe fire impact play a key role. KW - Carbon fibres KW - Sandwich KW - Structural composites KW - Fracture KW - High-temperature properties KW - Surface treatments PY - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesb.2018.11.077 SN - 1359-8368 VL - 164 SP - 82 EP - 89 PB - Elsevier AN - OPUS4-46908 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -