Chopped Carbon Fiber Reinforced Thermoplastic Composites

Abstract

This paper explores the development of a long (greater than 10 mm in length) chopped carbon fiber reinforced polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) composite. A novel manufacturing approach that uses compression molding to infuse thin PPS resin films sandwiching non-woven mats of chopped carbon fiber is developed for obtaining a composite organo sheet. The relationship between processing, microstructure and the resulting thermo-mechanical properties of the composite is evaluated. Laminated composite samples are prepared using a compression molding process using custom aluminum molds with simple design for scalability in size. The consolidated panels are subsequently annealed at various temperatures to induce cold crystallization to evaluate its role on mechanical properties. Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) are used to explore the thermo-mechanical properties of the composite. Annealing increased the thermal resilience of the composite specimens through a crystallization mechanism. Optical microscopy is used to evaluate the microstructure of the material. A tensile modulus of over 25 GPa and a failure strength of over 200 MPa are routinely obtained, showing significant promise for manufacturing lower cost and high throughput discontinuous carbon fiber composites with the potential of utilizing recycled carbon fiber for reinforcement.