The effects of fiber ply orientation, laminate layer and PLA content on mechanical properties of carbon fiber reinforced bioplastic composites

Abstract

In this study, two kinds of bioplastic materials, where the first consists of 10% PLA, corn starch of 80% and CaCO3 10%, and the second consists of 45% PLA content, corn starch of 45% and CaCO3 10%, were used. The composites were also reinforced by the carbon fibers, which were prepared with one and two layers of carbon fiber and then ply orientations of [0[Formula: see text]] and [45[Formula: see text]]. The maximum tensile strength was observed for PLA 45% with a [0[Formula: see text]] ply orientation of two layers of carbon fiber. For composite with two layers of carbon fiber, the tensile strength showed higher for the [0[Formula: see text]] ply orientation than for the [45[Formula: see text]] ply orientation. The fatigue strength strongly depends on the orientation of carbon fiber, but in the long fatigue life range, the difference of fatigue strength between the fiber ply orientations reduces.