Abstract
A fast-cure carbon fiber/epoxy prepreg was thermoformed against a replicated automotive roof panel mold (square-cup) to investigate the effect of the stacking sequence of prepreg layers with unidirectional and plane woven fabrics and mold geometry with different drawing angles and depths on the fiber deformation and formability of the prepreg. The optimum forming condition was determined via analysis of the material properties of epoxy resin. The non-linear mechanical properties of prepreg at the deformation modes of inter- and intra-ply shear, tensile and bending were measured to be used as input data for the commercial virtual forming simulation software. The prepreg with a stacking sequence containing the plain-woven carbon prepreg on the outer layer of the laminate was successfully thermoformed against a mold with a depth of 20 mm and a tilting angle of 110°. Experimental results for the shear deformations at each corner of the thermoformed square-cup product were compared with the simulation and a similarity in the overall tendency of the shear angle in the path at each corner was observed. The results are expected to contribute to the optimization of parameters on materials, mold design and processing in the thermoforming mass-production process for manufacturing high quality automotive parts with a square-cup geometry.
Highlights
As fuel economy regulations in the automotive industry become tighter [1], carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) parts and their processing are more attractive because the parts have lighter weight with better mechanical properties than steel parts while still maintain the durability and safety as the vehicle parts
Some benchmark studies were carried for standardization of the test methods for measuring thermomechanical properties of prepreg in order to improve the accuracy of thermoforming process simulation [13,14]
100 ◦ C was selected as the thermoforming temperature for the epoxy/carbon prepreg because it was the temperature with the lowest viscosity
Summary
As fuel economy regulations in the automotive industry become tighter [1], carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) parts and their processing are more attractive because the parts have lighter weight with better mechanical properties than steel parts while still maintain the durability and safety as the vehicle parts. The behavior of the fiber reorientations due to the fiber deformation from the two-dimensional prepreg to the three-dimensional mold shape during the thermoforming process [3,4] was studied to observe mechanical properties of the final product. The studies concluded that the fiber deformation behavior in the formed product was determined by the fiber orientation of the prepregs and the mold profile. Analysis of thermomechanical behaviors such as in-plane shear and bending stiffness for thermoplastic based composites was conducted to understand the formation of wrinkles in the final thermoformed product [7,8,9]. Non-linear thermomechanical properties of prepreg at various deformation modes including frictional stress as intra-ply shear were investigated [10,11,12]. Some benchmark studies were carried for standardization of the test methods for measuring thermomechanical properties of prepreg in order to improve the accuracy of thermoforming process simulation [13,14]
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