• Composites Research
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.168-175
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• 2015

Recently, the applications of carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRPs) have become broader than ever when it comes to such industries as automotive, ships, aerospace and military because of their lightweight-ness and high mechanical properties. Thermosetting plastics like epoxy are frequently used as the binding matrix in CFRPs due to their high hardness, wetting characteristics and low viscosity. However, they cannot melted and remolded. For this reason, thermosetting plastic wastes have caused serious environmental problems with the production of fiber reinforced plastics. Thus, many studies have focused on the carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastics (CFRTPs) and recycling carbon fiber. In this study, recycled carbon fiber (RCF) was prepared from CFRPs using a pyrolysis method, which was employed to separate resin and carbon fiber. The degree of decomposition for epoxy resin was confirmed from thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The RCF was cut and ground to prepare a carbon fiber composite sheet (CFCS). CFCS was manufactured by applying recycled carbon fibers and various thermoplastic fibers. Various characterizations were performed, including morphological analyses of surface and cross-section, mechanical properties, and crystallization enthalpy of CFCS at different cooling conditions.

• Progress in Superconductivity
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.111-116
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• 2011

Since superconducting wires have no resistance, electromagnets based on the superconducting wires produce no resistive heating with DC current as long as the current does not exceed the critical current of the wire. However, unlike resistive wires, superconducting wires exhibit AC heat loss. Embedding fine superconducting filaments inside copper matrix can reduce this AC loss to an acceptable level and opens the way to AC-capable superconducting coils. Here, we introduce an easy and accurate method to measure AC heat loss from sample superconducting coils by measuring changes in the rate of gas helium outflow from the liquid helium dewar in which the sample coil is placed. This method provides accurate information on total heat loss of a superconducting coil without any size limit, as long as the coil can fit inside the liquid helium dewar. With this method, we have evaluated AC heat loss of two superconducting solenoids, a 180-turn solid NbTi wire with 0.127 mm diameter (NbTi coil) and a 100-turn filamented wire with 1.4 mm diameter where 7 NbTi filaments were embedded in a copper matrix with copper to NbTi ratio of 6.7:1 (NbTi-Cu coil). Both coils were wound on 15 mm-diameter G-10 epoxy tubes. The AC heat losses of the NbTi and NbTi-Cu coils were evaluated as $53{\pm}4.7\;{\mu}W/A^2Hzcm^3$ and $0.67{\pm}0.16\;{\mu}W/A^2Hzcm^3$, respectively.

• Composites Research
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.18-24
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• 2011

The effect of surface treatments with the atmospheric pressure flame plasma (APFP) and epoxy silane (ES) is experimentally investigated to yield the best mechanical properties of silica ($V_f=40%$) reinforced elastomeric composites. The tensile strength of the composites is increased significantly with decrease the mean diameter. When the diameter is $2.2{\mu}m$, that of the composite is increased about 1.4 times compared to the matrix (2.52 MPa). Also, the tensile strength of silica reinforced composites with APFP and ES treated is increased 8.8~13.3%, 9.9~12.5%, respectively. When the diameter is $26.6{\mu}m$, the tensile modulus of the composite is increased about 2 times compared to the matrix (0.88MPa), and the tensile modulus of silica reinforced composites with APFP and ES treated is increased 15.6~22.8%, 21.1~5.8%, respectively. Conventional silane coupling agent treatment have a few disadvantages because of using organic solvents. However APFP treatment is a fast, economic and eco-friendly method to improve the mechanical properties.

• Composites Research
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.54-66
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• 2000

Interfacial and microfailure properties of carbon fiber/epoxy matrix composites were evaluated using both tensile fragmentation and compressive Broutman tests with an aid of acoustic emission (AE) monitoring. A polymeric maleic anhydride coupling agent and a monomeric amino-silane coupling agent were used via the electrodeposition (ED) and the dipping applications, respectively. Both coupling agents exhibited significant improvements in interfacial shear strength (IFSS) compared to the untreated case under tensile and compressive tests. The typical microfailure modes including fiber break of cone-shape, matrix cracking, and partial interlayer failure were observed during tensile test, whereas the diagonal slippage in fiber ends was observed under compressive test. For both loading types, fiber breaks occurred around just before and after yielding point. In both the untreated and treated cases AE amplitudes were separately distributed for the tensile testing, whereas they were closely distributed for the compressive tests. It is because of the difference in failure energies of carbon fiber between tensile and compressive loading. The maximum AE voltage for the waveform of carbon or basalt fiber breakages under tensile tests exhibited much larger than those under compressive tests, which can provide the difference in the failure energy of the individual failure processes.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.305-320
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• 2023

The mechanical properties of polymeric composites are degraded under elevated temperatures due to the effect of temperature on the mechanical behavior of the resin and resin fiber interfaces. In this study, the effect of temperature on the impact response of the carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) was investigated at low-velocity impact (LVI) using a drop-weight impact tester machine. All the composite plates were fabricated using a vacuum infusion process with a stacking sequence of [45/0_2/-45/90_2]s, and a thickness of 2.9 mm. A group of the specimens was exposed to an environment with a temperature cycling at the range of -30 ℃ to 65 ℃. In addition, three other groups of the specimens were aged at ambient (28 ℃), -30 ℃, and 65 ℃ for ten days. Then all the conditioned specimens were subjected to LVI at three energy levels of 10, 15, and 20 J. To assess the behavior of the damaged composite plates, the force-time, force-displacement, and energy-time diagrams were analyzed at all temperatures. Finally, radiography, optical microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to evaluate the effect of the temperature and damages at various impact levels. Based on the results, different energy levels have a similar effect on the LVI behavior of the samples at various temperatures. Delamination, matrix cracking, and fiber failure were the main damage modes. Compared to the samples tested at room temperature, the reduction of temperature to -30 ℃ enhanced the maximum impact force and flexural stiffness while decreasing the absorbed energy and the failure surface area. The temperature increasing to 65 ℃ increased the maximum impact force and flexural stiffness while decreasing the absorbed energy and the failure surface area. Applying 200 thermal cycles at the range of -30 ℃ to 65 ℃ led to the formation of fine cracks in the matrix while decreasing the absorbed energy. The maximum contact force is recorded under cyclic temperature as 5.95, 6.51 and 7.14 kN, under impact energy of 10, 15 and 20 J, respectively. As well as, the minimum contact force belongs to the room temperature condition and is reported as 3.93, 4.94 and 5.71 kN, under impact energy of 10, 15 and 20 J, respectively.

• Composites Research
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.1-6
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• 2006

The civilian and military agencies require the use of statistic-based allowable to design aerospace vehicles with composite materials. In order to comply this regulation, it is necessary to establish relatively large amount of database, which increases test costs and time. Recently NASA/FAA developed the new method which can satisfy the regulation with smaller test matrix through AGATE(Advanced General Aviation Transport Experiments) program. Especially the concept of material equivalency is very useful when the material has been certified in previous program, and it allows the engineer to use the database with the addition of small test matrix. This paper summarizes the material equivalency and acceptance test methodology so that composite material database can be shared and improve the credibility of the material quality. As a demonstration, the material design allowable of the high temperature carbon/epoxy composite developed domestically was determined with this methodology.

• Composites Research
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.1-15
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• 2023

Demand for energy consumption reduction is increasing according to the development expectations of future mobility. Lightweight structural materials are known as a method to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve energy efficiency. In particular, fiber reinforced polymer composite (FRP) is attracting attention as a material that can replace existing metal alloys due to its excellent mechanical properties and light weight. In this paper, industrial applications and research trends of carbon fiber reinforced composites (CFRP, carbon FRP) and self-reinforced composites (SRC) were reviewed based on the reinforcement, polymer matrix, and manufacturing process. In order to overcome the expensive process cost and long manufacturing time of the epoxy resin-based autoclave method, which is mainly used in the aircraft field, mass production of CFRP-applied electric vehicles has been reported using a high-pressure resin transfer molding process including fast-curing epoxy. In addition, thermoplastic resin-based CFRP and interface enhancement methods to solve the recycling issue of carbon fiber composites were reviewed in terms of materials and processes. To form a perfect matrix-reinforcement interface, which is known as the major factor inducing the excellent mechanical properties of FRP, studies on SRC impregnated with the same matrix in polymer fibers have been reported. The physical and mechanical properties of SRC based on various thermoplastic polymers were reviewed in terms of polymer orientation and composite structure. In addition, a copolymer matrix strategy for extending the processing window of highly drawn polypropylene fiber-based SRC was discussed. The application of CFRP and SRC as lightweight structural materials can provide potential options for improving the energy efficiency of future mobility.

• Fibers and Polymers
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.77-83
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• 2003

The cell modeling homogenization method to derive the constitutive equation considering the microstructures of the fiber reinforced composites has been previously developed for composites with simple microstructures such as 2D plane composites and 3D rectangular shaped composites. Here, the method has been further extended for 3D circular braided com-posites, utilizing B-spline curves to properly describe the more complex geometry of 3D braided composites. For verification purposes, the method has been applied for orthotropic elastic properties of the 3D circular braided glass fiber reinforced com-posite, in particular for the tensile property. Prepregs of the specimen have been fabricated using the 3D braiding machine through RTM (resin transfer molding) with epoxy as a matrix. Experimentally measured uniaxial tensile properties agreed well with predicted values obtained for two volume fractions.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.127-136
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• 2017

Fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) has received widespread attention in the field of civil engineering because of its superior durability and corrosion resistance. This article presents the damage mechanisms of a novelty composite called carbon nanofiber modified flax fiber polymer (CNF-modified FFRP). The ability of acoustic emission (AE) to detect damage evolution for different configurations of specimens under uniaxial tension was examined, and some useful AE characteristic parameters were obtained. Test results shows that the mechanical properties of modified composites are associated with the CNF content and the evenness of CNF dispersed in the epoxy matrix. Various damage mechanisms was established by means of scanning electron microscope images. The fuzzy c-means clustering were proposed to classify AE events into groups representing different generation mechanisms. The classifiers are constructed using the traditional AE features -- six parameters from each burst. Amplitude and peak-frequency were selected as the best cluster-definition features from these AE parameters. After comprehensive comparison, a correlation between these AE events classes and the damage mechanisms observed was proposed.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society For Composite Materials Conference
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• 2001.05a
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• pp.244-249
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• 2001

In this paper, we present the simultaneous measurement of the fabricaition strain and temperature during and after cure of unsymmetric composite laminate uising fiber optic sensors. Fiber Bragg grating/extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometric (FBG/EFPl) hybrid sensors are used to measure those measurands. The characteristic matrix of sensor is analytically derived and measurements can be done without sensor calibration. A wavelength-swept fiber laser is utilized as a light source. FBG/EFPI sensors are embedded in a graphite/epoxy unsymmetric cross-ply composite laminate at different direction and different location. We perform the real time measurement of fabrication strains and temperatures at two points of the composite laminate during cure process in an autoclave. Also, the thermal strains and temperatures of the fabricated laminate are measured in thermal chamber. Through these experiments, we can provide a basis for the efficient smart processing of composite and know the thermal behavior of unsymmetric cross-ply composite laminate.