The Surface Finish of Thermally Aged Carbon Fibre Reinforced Composites Using E-glass as a Surface Barrier

• Published in: Applied composite materials Vol. 22; no. 5; pp. 573 - 582
• Main Authors: de Souza, M. L., Fox, B.L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.10.2015; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Bisphenol A; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Classical Mechanics; E glass; Ethers; Industrial Chemistry/Chemical Engineering; Laminates; Materials Science; Painted; Polymer Sciences; Roughness; Surface finish; Waviness; Surface Analysis; Thermosetting Resin; Glass Fibres; Carbon Fibre Composites; Thermal Aging; Automotive
• ISSN: 0929-189X; 1573-4897
• DOI: 10.1007/s10443-014-9424-1

This work investigated the effect of woven E-glass mass (25 g/m 2 , 50 g/m 2 , 85 g/m 2 , 135 g/m 2 ) on the painted surface finish of various thermoset (EPIKOTE TM RIM935, EPIKOTE TM 04434, Ultratec Lp TM ES300, Ultratec Lp TM SPV6035) carbon fibre composite laminates, before and after aging at 95 °C for 168 h. The as-moulded laminate surfaces were evaluated using surface profilometry techniques and the painted and aged surfaces were evaluated using a wave-scan distinctness of image (DOI) instrument. It was found that the 25 g/m 2 E-glass surface layer assisted with reducing the roughness of the as-moulded surfaces and the long-term waviness of the painted surfaces due to the increase in resin-richness at the surface. The EPIKOTE TM 04434 resin system that contained diglycidyl ether of bisphenol F (DGEBF) epoxy had the least change in long-term waviness with thermal aging due to the rigid fluorene-based backbone in comparison to the diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) systems.