Journal
COMPOSITES PART A-APPLIED SCIENCE AND MANUFACTURING
Volume 106, Issue -, Pages 11-23Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.compositesa.2017.12.006
Keywords
Discontinuous reinforcement; Fracture toughness; Short carbon fibres; Epoxy polymer
Funding
- Australian Research Council's Discovery Grant Program [DP140100778]
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An investigation is presented on increasing the fracture toughness of epoxy/short carbon fibre (SCF) composites by alignment of SCFs using an externally applied alternating current (AC) electric field. Firstly, the effects of SCF length, SCF content and AC electric field strength on the rotation of the SCFs suspended in liquid (i.e. uncured) epoxy resin are investigated. Secondly, it is shown the mode I fracture toughness of the cured epoxy composites increases with the weight fraction of SCFs up to a limiting value (5 wt%). Thirdly, the toughening effect is greater when the SCFs are aligned in the composite normal to the direction of crack growth. The SCFs increases the fracture toughness by inducing multiple intrinsic and extrinsic toughening mechanisms, which are identified. Based on the identified toughening mechanisms, an analytical model is proposed to predict the enhancement to the fracture toughness due to AC electric field alignment of the SCFs. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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