Mechanical Properties of High-Temperature Fiber-Reinforced Thermoset Composites with Plain Weave and Unidirectional Carbon Fiber Fillers

Abstract

Fiber-reinforced thermoset composites are a class of materials that address the arising needs from the aerospace and hypersonic industries for high specific strength, temperature-resistant structural materials. Among the high-temperature resistant thermoset categories, phenolic triazine (PT) cyanate esters stand out thanks to their inherent high degradation temperature, glass transition temperature, and mechanical strength. Despite the outstanding properties of these thermosets, the performance of carbon fiber composites using PT cyanate esters as matrices has not been thoroughly characterized. This work evaluated PT and carbon fiber composites’ compressive properties and failure mechanisms with different fiber arrangements. A PT resin with both plain weave (PW) and non-crimped unidirectional (UD) carbon fiber mats was analyzed in this research. Highly loaded thermoset composites were obtained using process temperatures not exceeding 260 °C, and the composites proved to retain compressive strength at temperatures beyond 300 °C. Compressive testing revealed that PT composites retained compressive strength values of 50.4% of room temperature for UD composites and 61.4% for PW composites. Post-compressive failure observations of the gage section revealed that the mechanisms for failure evolved with temperature from brittle, delamination-dominant failure to shear-like failure promoted by the plastic failure of the matrix. This study demonstrated that PT composites are a good candidate for structural applications in harsh environments.

A Manufacturing Process Simulation of Toughened Cyanate-Ester-Based Composite Structures with Respect to Stress Relaxation

“…First, the thermochemical part included calculating the temperature and degree of cure for the dependent variables, as well as the T g as a function of these two parameters. The thermal module was coupled with a differential equation that describes the curing reaction, as outlined by L. Amirova et al [ 4 ]. It consists of a separated catalytic and autocatalytic part as proposed by [ 16 ].…”

“…Notably, CE-based composites showed comparably high T g values and hence are of potential interest for applications with high thermal loads. These composites are currently used in areas, such as high-temperature adhesives and advanced composite matrices in the aviation, aerospace, and automotive industries [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]. A unique combination of properties, including high temperature stability, high chemical resistance, low moisture uptake, and a low dielectric constant in the cured state, as well as low viscosity in the uncured state, has led to the use of these materials in low-volume high-performance applications.…”

Additive Manufacturing of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Epoxy Thermoset with Improved Thermomechanical Properties

“…Jing et al mixed PA12 with chopped CF before 3D printing, which resulted in an increment of tensile strength, tensile modulus, flexural strength, and flexural modulus [20]. The influence of fiber fraction on the thermal and mechanical properties of thermosetting composites was analyzed by Hall et al [21].…”