A Review on Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer Composites and the Methods of Their Manufacture, Disposal and Reclamation

Abstract

Fibre reinforced composites can be tailored to meet the demands of the industry for various applications. Carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) holds the advantages of being lightweight, possessing high tensile strength, superior corrosion resistance and anti-fatigue properties. Their unique ability to possess customisable directional strength is a major factor, which promotes their use. Through bonding CFRP sheets, the ultimate load and post-elastic stiffness of specimens can be significantly increased. However, the carbon footprint and direct cost are the biggest obstacles in the way of adopting CFRP in industrial application. In this paper, the prevalent techniques of manufacture and disposal of CFRP have been studied. New techniques like inculcating thermoplastic matrix-based CFRP in additive manufacturing and manufacture of CFRP sheets by electro-activated deposition resin holding increase the scope of use of the composite. Despite its tremendous capabilities, CFRP and its products pose an issue at the end of their life cycle due to the difficult and cumbersome methods of disposal. Also, hampering their value in the industry is their high purchasable cost and the lack of a method of manufacture which provides high productivity and formability.