The Potential for Fibre Alignment in the Manufacture of Polymer Composites from Recycled Carbon Fibre

摘要

This paper studies the feasibility and potential benefits of aligning recycled carbon fibers, in the form of short individual filaments, to manufacture fiber-reinforced polymer composites. A review of fiber alignment processes is presented to provide insight into the different alignment technologies. The main focus is on wet hydrodynamic processes, which offer a high degree of alignment for discontinuous fibers. The process parameters that govern the alignment efficiency are also reported. The effect of alignment on fiber packing efficiency in the manufacture of composites is included, together with a report of preliminary fiber alignment results obtained from three different alignment processes.