Electrocoating at constant current is less sensitive to moisture and oxygen than electrocoating at controlled potential, which makes it more interesting for industrial implementation. The galvanostatic electrocoating of carbon fibres with Poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) was therefore studied and compared to the well researched potentiostatic electrocoating procedure. The influence of different experimental parameters on the coating efficiency was investigated in order to identify the mechanisms that are involved in the cathodic electrocoating at constant current. It could be confirmed that the involved mechanisms differ from potentiostatic electrocoating and it was found that galvanostatic electrocoating is more efficient at ambient conditions compared to potentiostatic electrocoating. Polymer layers that cover the entire carbon fibre surface could be achieved in a continuous process by galvanostatic electrocoating under ambient conditions.
This paper presents an approach towards realising novel multifunctional polymer composites with combined structural and electric energy storing ability. A series of structural capacitors were made using three thicknesses of DuPont Mylar A thermoplastic PET as a dielectric separator employing carbon fibre/epoxy pre-pregs as structural electrodes. Plasma treatment was used as a route for improved epoxy/PET adhesion. The manufactured materials were mechanically and electrically tested to evaluate their multifunctional efficiency. The multifunctional materials developed show good potential for replacing steel, aluminium and other materials with lower specific mechanical properties but do not match the high specific mechanical and electrical performance of monofunctional composites and capacitors.
A multiscale approach is used to predict transverse tensile and transverse compressive strength of unidirectional non-crimp fabric (NCF) composites. Numerical analysis on fibre/matrix scale is performed to obtain the transverse strength of the fibre bundle to be further used in an analytical mesoscale model to predict the strength of the unidirectional NCF composite. Design of unidirectional layer composites with the same fibres, interface, matrix and volume fractions as in the bundle is suggested as an alternative method for bundle strength determination. Good agreement of both methods for bundle transverse strength determination is demonstrated. The simple analytical model used on mesoscale gives accurate predictions of the tensile transverse strength whereas the compressive strength is underestimated. The necessity of including bundle waviness in models when bidirectional NCF composites are analysed is demonstrated by FEM stress analysis and by experimental data showing differences in transverse cracking pattern due to bundle waviness.
A method to assemble sandwich panels made of carbon fibre reinforced poly-ether-ether-ketone (CF/PEEK) facesheets and 3D-printed poly-ether-imide (PEI) honeycomb cores using induction welding is presented. Induction heating patterns inside CF/PEEK laminates of variable dimensions are first evaluated with a thermal camera and compared to a COMSOL Multiphysics model. Sandwich samples are then prepared by vacuum-assisted continuous induction welding under parameters selected from the modelling effort. Joining of sandwich panels made of CF/PEEK facesheets by induction welding under vacuum is demonstrated. Facesheets do not deconsolidate in the process and core crushing is avoided. Flatwise skin/core strength of the welded samples reaches up to 7 MPa, above reported performance for thermoset or thermoplastic composite sandwich panels. s
Gradients in lithium ion concentration distribution in carbon fiber are accompanied by non-uniform fiber swelling leading to development of mechanical stresses. During lithium deintercalation these stresses may lead to initiation and growth of radial cracks in the fiber. The subsequent cycle of intercalation may result in arc-shaped cracks deviating from the tip of the radial cracks. These phenomena decrease the mechanical properties of fibers if used in structural batteries and reduce the charging properties of the battery by decreased diffusivity of lithium ions and by exfoliating layers on the fiber surface. The crack propagation and possible damage evolution scenarios are analyzed using linear elastic fracture mechanics. The crack geometry dependent ion concentration distributions and the elastic stress distributions were found using finite element software ANSYS. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Two biobased polyethylenes (BioPE) and thermomechanical pulp (TMP) fibers were used to produce biocomposites. The impact of TMP fibers on the mechanical properties was assessed in detail. An increase on the viscosity of the melted biocomposites was quantified and was related to the incorporation of the TMP fibers (0–30% w/w). The impact of polyethylene functionalized with maleic anhydride (MAPE) on the mechanical properties was quantified. Compared to neat BioPEs, a maximum increase of tensile strength between 115 and 127% was obtained, for the biocomposites containing 6% w/w of MAPE and 30% w/w TMP fibers. The formulated biocomposites containing 10 and 20% TMP fibers were three-dimensional (3D) printed, by fused deposition modelling. We confirmed that TMP fibers facilitated the 3D printing and correspondingly improved the mechanical properties of the biocomposite materials.
Energy release rate (ERR) for fiber/matrix debonding in composite with local fiber clustering, subjected to axial tension, has been investigated numerically by a 3-D finite element (FE) model. In the model, broken fiber is central in a hexagonal unit which is embedded in an effective composite. Fiber/matrix debond with circular front is assumed to be originated from the fiber break. The effect of the local fiber clustering on ERR is studied by varying distance between the broken fiber and the neighboring fibers. For very short debonds as well as for long debonds (almost steady-state growth) the ERR was calculated by both the J integral and the Virtual Crack Closure Technique (VCCT). Results show that the debond growth is Mode II dominated and that the ERR strongly depends on the angular coordinate. The local fiber clustering has larger effect on the angular variation for shorter debonds and the effect increases with larger local fiber volume fraction. The results obtained from the 3-D hexagonal model are compared with those obtained previously using 5-cylinder axisymmetric model developed by the same authors. The ERR values from 5-cylinder axisymmetric model could be considered as upper bound for the 3-D hexagonal model.
The effect of 0°-tow out-of-plane waviness on the biaxial non-crimp-fabric (NCF) composite axial stiffness is investigated. Homogenizing, the bundle mesostructure of the NCF composite is replaced by layers. Then the composite is represented by a laminate with flat layers with effective stiffness properties representing the curved 0°-layer and the 90°-layer with varying thickness. It is shown that the NCF composite knock-down factor characterizing the stiffness degradation has almost the same dependence on wave parameters as the knock-down factor for the curved 0°-layer. Numerical analysis showed that 90°-layer knock-down factor versus amplitude curves for different wavelength can be reduced to one master curve which can be described by a one-parameter expression with the parameter dependent on the used material. This observation is used to obtain high accuracy for analytical predictions for knock-down factors for cases with different wavelength and amplitudes based on two FE calculations only.