Influence of cure volume shrinkage on interfacial adhesion in carbon fiber-vinyl ester composites

Frederic Vautard, Lanhong Xu, Laurence T. Drzal

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

Vinyl ester resins are commonly used in aerospace and aeronautics industries, military equipment, transportation, chemical engineering, sport and recreation goods⋯particularly because of their high resistance to moisture absorption, ambient curing, and resistance to corrosion. Nevertheless, the mechanical properties of carbon fiber-vinyl ester composites are low compared to carbon fiber-epoxy composites, mainly because of lower interfacial adhesion. The origins of that well known phenomenon were investigated. While there was a preferential adsorption of the matrix constituents (initiator, promoter, accelerator, styrene and vinyl ester monomers) to the carbon fiber surface, the mechanical properties of the interface and the interfacial adhesion did not appear to be significantly affected. However, the high cure volume shrinkage, which depended on the matrix composition and its thermal history during the cure, was shown to be the main parameter. To overcome this inherent issue, a partially cross-linked epoxy sizing was found to strongly improve the interfacial adhesion. The mechanisms involved in that enhancement resulting from the crosslinked epoxy sizing were characterized. The diffusion of styrene in the epoxy coating made it swell, which counteracted the residual stress generated by the cure volume shrinkage of the vinyl ester matrix.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationSAMPE '09 Spring Symposium Conference Proceedings
Subtitle of host publicationChanging Times. New Opportunities. Are You Prepared?
StatePublished - 2009
Externally publishedYes
EventSAMPE '09 Spring Symposium Conference Proceedings - Baltimore, MD, United States
Duration: May 18 2009May 21 2009

Publication series

NameInternational SAMPE Symposium and Exhibition (Proceedings)
Volume54
ISSN (Print)0891-0138

Conference

ConferenceSAMPE '09 Spring Symposium Conference Proceedings
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityBaltimore, MD
Period05/18/0905/21/09

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