Comparison of the thermomechanical characteristics of porcher carbon fabric-based composites for orthopaedic applications

Prepregs of fiber-reinforced plastics based on a PORCHER-43200 carbon twill-weave fabric and two types of binders - thermoreactive and thermoplastic - were fabricated using electrostatic spraying, followed by rolling the prepregs in temperature-controlled calenders. A solid epoxy olygomer with dicyandiamine as a hardener and Fortron(A (R)) polyphenylene sulfide were used as the thermoreactive and thermoplastic binders. The thermomechanical properties of carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics processed from these prepregs, as well as commercial Sigranex(A (R)) PREPREGCE8201-200-45 S prepregs as model ones, and composites manufactured from them were investigated for comparison. The latter ones are being used for the design of orthopaedic products. It is shown that the composites based on polyphenylene sulfide are characterized by higher values of flexural strength, flexural and shear moduli, and interlaminar fracture toughness (G (IC)), the latter being the most important parameter.