Impact and shear properties of carbon fabric/ poly-dicyclopentadiene composites manufactured by vacuum‐assisted resin transfer molding

• Published in: e-Polymers Vol. 19; no. 1; pp. 437 - 443
• Main Authors: Yoo, Hyeong Min, Kim, Moo Sun, Kim, Bum Soo, Kwon, Dong Jun, Choi, Sung Woong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin De Gruyter 01.01.2019; Walter de Gruyter GmbH
• Subjects: carbon fabric; carbon fabric-reinforced p-DCPD composites; Carbon fiber reinforced plastics; Carbon fibers; Crack propagation; Deformation; dicyclopentadiene; Epoxy resins; Fiber volume fraction; impact properties of composites; Impact strength; Materials science; Polymer matrix composites; Polymers; Properties (attributes); Resin transfer molding; Shear properties; shear properties of composite; Shear stress
• ISSN: 2197-4586; 1618-7229
• DOI: 10.1515/epoly-2019-0045

Dicyclopentadiene (DCPD) resin has gained popularity owing to its fast curing time and ease of processing with a low viscosity in the monomer state. In the present study, the impact and shear properties of a carbon fiber (CF)/p-DCPD composite were investigated. The CF/p-DCPD composite was manufactured by vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding with CF as the reinforcement and p-DCPD as the resin with a maximum fiber volume fraction of 55 weight percent. Impact and shear properties of the CF/p-DCPD composite were evaluated and compared with those of a CF/Epoxy composite. The maximum shear stress and modulus of the CF/p-DCPD composite were lower than that of the CF/Epoxy composite. However, the CF/p-DCPD composite had higher toughness than that of the CF/Epoxy composite; this indicates that it is tougher and exhibits a more ductile load-displacement response with a lower modulus and larger failure deformation. The impact strength of the CF/p-DCPD composite was about three time that of the CF/Epoxy composite. The higher impact strength of the CF/p-DCPD composite is attributed to the resin characteristics: epoxy resin has a more brittle behavior, and hence, higher energy is required for crack propagation due to fracture.