We report here preliminary results on tailoring of the interlaminar region of a woven aerospace carbon fiber prepreg laminate to assess process-structure relations on interlaminar region morphology, and structure-property relations via interlaminar shear strength testing. In our approach, vertically aligned carbon nanotube (A-CNT) arrays are used as reinforcement between plies, acting as "nanostitches". More favorable A-CNT array heights of 75 μm and 100 urn are identified as these do not increase the thickness of the interlaminar region (and also therefore, laminate) thickness. However, the large interlaminar region in the woven interfaces is not fully filled by the A-CNTs. A statistically insignificant (～2%) improvement in the short-beam shear (SBS) strength is recorded for the nanostitched samples and observation of the damage region post failure displays classical modes of interlaminar reinforcement, such as suppression of the interfacial debonding and toughness via CNT pullout We could relate the moderate enhancement of the ILSS values to the current process that yields partial filling of the interlaminar region with A-CNTs.
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