Flame retardant and mechanical properties of carbon fiber/novel phenolic resin sandwich composite laminates

Abstract

This study investigated a novel phenolic resin that possesses the advantages of both epoxy and phenolic resins and significantly improves their disadvantages. This novel phenolic resin was impregnated into the carbon fiber woven to prepare a sandwich composite. Composites with sandwich structures were analyzed for their flame retardant and mechanical properties. The flame retardancy of the novel phenolic resin composite was similar to that of a pure phenolic resin composite without the processing disadvantages of pure phenolic resin, and these two composites were better than epoxy sandwich composites. The mechanical properties, such as facesheet, and core shear test results of the sandwich composite revealed that both epoxy and novel phenolic composites with a flame retardant added had poor interfacial bonding, resulting in lower strength than that of the neat sandwich composite.