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Office of Undergraduate Research Home » 2018 Undergraduate Research Symposium Schedules

Found 1 project

Poster Presentation 3

2:30 PM to 4:00 PM
Investigation of Platelet Size Effect on Fracturing Behavior of Discontinuous Fiber Composite
Presenter
  • Minh N. Nguyen, Senior, Aeronautics & Astronautics Mary Gates Scholar
Mentor
  • Marco Salviato, Aeronautics & Astronautics
Session
    Poster Session 3
  • Balcony
  • Easel #93
  • 2:30 PM to 4:00 PM

  • Other students mentored by Marco Salviato (1)
Investigation of Platelet Size Effect on Fracturing Behavior of Discontinuous Fiber Compositeclose

Carbon fiber-reinforced composites are widely used in the aerospace industry due to their light weight, high strength, and fatigue resistance. However, these materials are expensive due to the painstaking manufacturing processes involved and the inability to recycle. There is growing interest in discontinuous fiber composites (DFC), which are made from small chips of unidirectional prepreg fiber, distributed at random. However, its material properties and behaviors are not well understood. An investigation of DFC was performed to characterize the effect of platelet size on the fracture behavior of the material in various structure sizes. A manufacturing process leveraging computer numerical control fiber cutting and a heated platen press was developed to produce test specimens composed of randomly-oriented platelets from unidirectional carbon fiber prepregs. Three different platelet sizes (25x4, 50x8, and 75×12 mm) were investigated. Single-edge notched tension tests showed that in larger structure sizes, the material exhibited a reduction in strength along with increasing brittleness and notch sensitivity. It was found that decreasing platelet sizes shortened the critical notch length at which this embrittlement of the material occurred. These findings indicate that while minimizing platelet dimensions may be advantageous in the fabrication of complex DFC parts, proper design will require an optimal compromise between manufacturability and structural integrity.


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