Study on tensile strain of carbon fiber triaxial woven fabric/thermoplastic polyurethane flexible textile composites

Abstract

AbstractIn order to study the possibility of flexible textile composites as space deployable devices, carbon fiber triaxial woven fabric and thermoplastic polyurethane were compounded by hot‐pressing. The section shape of the carbon fiber triaxial woven fabric flexible textile composites was observed by scanning electron microscopy. After hot‐pressing at 120°C for 45 min, the thermoplastic polyurethane is best combined with carbon fiber bundle, and fully melted to form a protective layer, which also ensured the deformability of carbon fiber triaxial woven fabric/thermoplastic polyurethane flexible textile composites. The tensile strains of flexible textile composites in the directions of 0°, 15° and 30° were analyzed by digital image correlation. The analysis was carried out from the macroscopic scale, the single cell scale, and the fiber bundle scale, combined with the strain distribution of digital image correlation in the tensile process. From the axial and radial deformation of the bundle and the force analysis of single cell, the phenomena such as strain change, trellising phenomenon, and fabric deformation during tensile were explained. When carbon fiber triaxial woven fabric is added to glass‐fiber composite, the electromagnetic reflection efficiency can be increased by 9%. The research on strain and electromagnetic reflection provided the possibility for the flexible textile composites as a space deployment device.Highlights Through the use of SEM and hot‐pressing, carbon fiber triaxial woven fabric/TPU flexible textile composites with high coverage were produced. The differences in strain distribution and deformation process throughout the CTFC tensile process at 0°, 15°, and 30° are investigated by DIC and stress analysis. Carbon fiber triaxial woven fabric (TWF) can reflect electromagnetic radiation. TWF can increase the efficacy of reflection in composites. Space deployment is a possible application of TWF.