THE DETERMINATION OF THE ELASTIC CHARACTERISTICS OF UNIDIRECTIONAL PREPREG CARBON FIBER-REINFORCED EPOXY RESIN COMPOSITES

Abstract

The unidirectional prepreg carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy resin composites are used on a wide scale in various applications: automobile industry, recreation boat industry, chemical industry (pipes and tanks) etc. Depending on the stresses at which the composite parts are exposed to, they have different reinforcement structures (woven fabric, mats, unidirectional fibers). The axial loading of the structures having complex geometry implies unidirectional fibers reinforcement of the composite, therefore, it is of utmost importance to know the elasticity modulus, the fracture strength and the deformations induced. In the absence of these properties, the design and production of the structures would not be possible. This paper’s objective is to determine the characteristic curve of the unidirectional prepreg carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy resin composites, as a result of the investigation upon two types of materials, belonging to different producers. The results suggested that between the two types of materials there are differences of approximately 9% among the values of the longitudinal elasticity modulus and of approximately 22% for the fracture strength.