Daisuke Shimamoto

Quantitative evaluation of interfacial adhesion between fiber and resin in carbon fiber/epoxy composite cured by semiconductor microwave device

Abstract Interfacial adhesion between carbon fiber (CF) and epoxy resin in carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy composite, which was prepared by different heating process such as semiconductor microwave (MW) device and conventional electric oven, has been evaluated quantitatively. The interfacial shear strength (IFSS) between CF and epoxy resin, which was an indicator of adhesion on the interface, was measured by a single fiber fragmentation test. The single fiber fragmentation test showed that the IFSSs of the prepared specimens were different by heating methods. In the case of MW process, the curing reaction of epoxy resin on the CF interface would be progressed preferentially due to the selective heating of CF, resulting that the IFSSs of specimens prepared by MW irradiation were increased by enhancing the output power of MW. However, the IFSSs of the specimens were decreased by excessively high output power because the matrix resin on the CF interface was thermally degraded. As results, by optimizing the MW conditions of output power and irradiation time, the IFSS of the sample cured by MW was increased by 21% as compared to oven-heated one. It was found that the interfacial adhesion between CF and epoxy resin would be improved by the MW-assisted curing reaction on the surface of CF.

Curing Effects on Interfacial Adhesion between Recycled Carbon Fiber and Epoxy Resin Heated by Microwave Irradiation

The interfacial adhesion of recycled carbon fiber (CF) reinforced epoxy composite heated by microwave (MW) irradiation were investigated by changing the curing state of the epoxy resin. The recycled CF was recovered from the composite, which was prepared by vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding, by thermal degradation at 500 or 600 °C. Thermogravimetric analysis showed that the heating at 600 °C caused rough damage to the CF surface, whereas recycled CF recovered at 500 °C have few defects. The interfacial shear strength (IFSS) between recycled CF and epoxy resin was measured by a single-fiber fragmentation test. The test specimen was heated by MW after mixing the epoxy resin with a curing agent or pre-curing, in order to investigate the curing effects on the matrix resin. The IFSSs of the MW-irradiated samples were significantly varied by the curing state of the epoxy resin and the surface condition of recycled CF, resulting that they were 99.5 to 131.7% of oven heated samples Furthermore, rheological measurements showed that the viscosity and shrinking behaviors of epoxy resin were affected based on the curing state of epoxy resin before MW irradiation.

Effect of microwave irradiation on carbon fiber/epoxy resin composite fabricated by vacuum assisted resin transfer molding

The effects of microwave irradiation for resin-curing of carbon fiber/epoxy resin composite (CFRTS), which was fabricated by vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM) method, were investigated at 2.45 GHz frequency. The mechanical properties of CFRTS cured by microwave irradiation for 20 min at 120 °C were similar as compared to the conventional oven for 300 min at 120 °C. Moreover, the CFRTS irradiated by microwave had better adherence property between fiber and resin as compared to conventional oven at same resin-curing time. From the relation between resin-curing and mechanical property, it was found that the curing rate of microwave-irradiated CFRTS was 15 times faster as compared to conventional heating. Furthermore, the activation energies for resin-curing reaction on conventional- and microwave-cured CFRTS were estimated to be 2.7 and 1.3 × 104 J/mol, respectively. The resin-curing reaction in CFRTS prepared by VARTM method was significantly promoted by microwave irradiation at short time.

Evaluation of measurement method for carbon fiber length using an optical image scanner

Fiber length and its distribution are important factors to determine the mechanical properties of discontinuous carbon fiber-reinforced composites. For the efficient and easy measurement of fiber length, an optical image scanner was introduced into the measurement procedure. The scan image allowed to measure approximately 25,000 carbon fibers. The measured values ( ) and mean value of these (< >) were evaluated by comparison with reference values ( ) obtained using an optical microscope. were dependent on the angle between fiber and sub-scanning direction. Furthermore, the relative errors between < > and were less than 2.5% in case that were 0.226 mm or more. The sample standard deviations of were approximately constant and their values were ca. 0.010 mm. Therefore, it was found that the relative error of measurement value derived from the scan image was dependent on the measured fiber length.