Enhanced mechanical and failure characteristic of woven carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic laminates using core-shell particles

Abstract

Thermoplastic composites have gained considerable prominence in the market due to their numerous advantages. Many research efforts have been made to enhance the performance of thermoplastic composites using fillers. The primary challenge associated with this field is the high melting temperature and high viscosity of thermoplastic polymer melt, which restrict filler dispersion within them. However, interlaminar filler reinforcement has been identified as one of the easiest and most practical techniques to disperse the filler in the thermoplastic polymer. In this study, core-shell particles (CSPs) were manually dispersed at the fiber interfaces using a sieve, and then thermoplastic composites were fabricated via the compression molding method. The effect of adding CSPs on the mechanical properties of carbon fiber-reinforced PA6 (CF-PA6) composites was investigated. It was found that the addition of 4wt% CSPs led to the maximum improvement of 59%, 26%, 42%, and 48% respectively, in flexural strength and modulus, interlaminar shear strength, and compression strength, compared to the pristine composites. Furthermore, microscope images of fractured surfaces confirmed that CSPs delayed the matrix crack propagation and had better interfacial interaction with the fiber and matrix. These findings can improve the mechanical properties of thermoplastic composites and would assist designers in using them in specific elastic tailoring structures.