Mechanical Characterisation of Carbon Fibre-Reinforced Plastics with Defined Defects

Abstract

A steadily increasing application of fibre-reinforced plastics in the field of lightweight construction has been observed in the course of the past two decades. Currently a major challenge in the growing high technology market is the quality assurance of manufactured fibre-reinforced plastic components. During different stages in the manufacturing process of fibre-reinforced plastics, defects of different types and sizes are enclosed in them, exerting a destructive influence on the performance of fibre-reinforced plastics in various practical applications in terms of strength, stiffness and brittleness. Thus the aim of this research project was to investigate the effect of defined local defects on the mechanical properties, such as tensile, flexural and impact properties, of fibre-reinforced plastics, in particular carbon fibre-reinforced plastics. Results show that these mechanical properties depend significantly on the type and size of defect.