“…In pursuit of carbon neutrality, developing lighter and stronger structural materials has long been considered one of the key themes in industries such as aerospace, land/air transport, and civil infrastructures. Currently, among the most commonly used engineering materials, carbon fibers reinforced polymeric composites (CFRPs) possess the highest specific strength and modulus, making them ideal materials for constructing lightweight structures [1,2]. It is well known that the overall performance of CFRPs is not only determined by the intrinsic properties of carbon fibers (CFs) and matrix materials [3,4] but also greatly affected by the interface between these two compounds.…”
Multi-scale “rigid-soft” material coating has been an effective strategy for enhancing the interfacial shear strength (IFSS) of carbon fibers (CFs), which is one of the key themes in composite research. In this study, a soft material, chitosan (CS), and a rigid material, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), were sequentially grafted onto the CFs surface by a two-step amination reaction. The construction of the “rigid-soft” structure significantly increased the roughness and activity of the CFs surface, which improved the mechanical interlocking and chemical bonding between the CFs and resin. The interfacial shear strength (IFSS) of the CS- and CNT-modified CFs composites increased by 186.9% to 123.65 MPa compared to the desized fibers. In addition, the tensile strength of the modified CFs was also enhanced by 26.79% after coating with CS and CNTs. This strategy of establishing a “rigid-soft” gradient modulus interfacial layer with simple and non-destructive operation provides a valuable reference for obtaining high-performance CFs composites.
“…In pursuit of carbon neutrality, developing lighter and stronger structural materials has long been considered one of the key themes in industries such as aerospace, land/air transport, and civil infrastructures. Currently, among the most commonly used engineering materials, carbon fibers reinforced polymeric composites (CFRPs) possess the highest specific strength and modulus, making them ideal materials for constructing lightweight structures [1,2]. It is well known that the overall performance of CFRPs is not only determined by the intrinsic properties of carbon fibers (CFs) and matrix materials [3,4] but also greatly affected by the interface between these two compounds.…”
Multi-scale “rigid-soft” material coating has been an effective strategy for enhancing the interfacial shear strength (IFSS) of carbon fibers (CFs), which is one of the key themes in composite research. In this study, a soft material, chitosan (CS), and a rigid material, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), were sequentially grafted onto the CFs surface by a two-step amination reaction. The construction of the “rigid-soft” structure significantly increased the roughness and activity of the CFs surface, which improved the mechanical interlocking and chemical bonding between the CFs and resin. The interfacial shear strength (IFSS) of the CS- and CNT-modified CFs composites increased by 186.9% to 123.65 MPa compared to the desized fibers. In addition, the tensile strength of the modified CFs was also enhanced by 26.79% after coating with CS and CNTs. This strategy of establishing a “rigid-soft” gradient modulus interfacial layer with simple and non-destructive operation provides a valuable reference for obtaining high-performance CFs composites.
“…In addition, it is worth considering the ease of malleability of these polymers, which give designers quite a high freedom in choosing particular and advantageous shapes. All these aspects have contributed to an increased demand for FRPs even outside automotive and aerospace engineering where they found their first applications [9][10][11][12][13][14].…”
Metal replacements for automotive and aerospace components are already a consolidated reality, in light of the advantages offered by fibre-reinforced polymers, consisting of reduced costs, weight, and environmental impact. As a result, engineering has been studying the possibility of replacing currently used metallic alloys with alternative materials, such as thermoplastic fibre-reinforced polymers, in the manufacturing of non-structural sections of marine engines. Given the peculiar characteristics of the working environment of such parts, i.e., ship engine spaces, and the strict requirements regarding safety, the selection of the polymer must be properly performed through a tailored material design process. Consequently, the redesign of the components must be carried out with the aim of exploiting the best of the materials’ properties while ensuring the correct resistance and simplifying installation operations. In this framework, finite element simulations may represent a suitable approach to validate the conformity of the proposed material and design. In this paper, this methodology is applied to a camshaft cover of a four-stroke marine engine, currently made of aluminium alloy. A 30% wt GFs/PA6,6 was identified as the most promising material and the novel plastic cover proved to guarantee the correct resistance while ensuring an important reduction in weight, processing costs, and required energy.
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