COMPRESSION MOULDING OF DISCONTINUOUS-FIBRE CARBON/PEEK COMPOSITES: STUDY OF MECHANICAL PROPERTIES

摘要

A new multi-disciplinary study is being conducted to systematically evaluate, characterize andmodel the moulding process and mechanical properties of composites manufactured fromrandomly-oriented carbon/PEEK chopped strips. The heterogeneous meso-structure of thismaterial is expected to give rise to unique material behaviour, which is not entirely accounted forin the current ASTM standards for mechanical testing. This paper presents results of a sensitivitystudy aimed to evaluate the dependence of measured properties on the size of the coupon gaugesection. Coupons of different widths (12.5 – 50 mm) were cut from compression moulded flatpanels of randomly oriented chopped strips 25 mm in length and were subjected to quasi-statictensile loading. Results did not show any noticeable effect of the coupon width on the measuredproperties. Tensile strength and stiffness were found to be substantially lower than those ofquasi-isotropic continuous fiber laminates, 59 % and 26 % lower, respectively.