• Carbon letters
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.58-61
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• 2013

In this work, the effect of catalysts on the mechanical properties of carbon fibers-reinforced epoxy matrix composites cured by cationic latent thermal catalysts, i.e., N-benzylpyrazinium hexafluoroantimonate (BPH) was studied. Differential scanning calorimetry was executed for thermal characterization of the epoxy matrix system. Mechanical interfacial properties of the composites were studied by interlaminar shear strength (ILSS), critical stress intensity factor ($K_{IC}$), and specific fracture energy ($G_{IC}$). As a result, the conversion of neat epoxy matrix cured by BPH was higher than that of one cured by diaminodiphenyl methane (DDM). The ILSS, $K_{IC}$, $G_{IC}$, and impact strength of the composites cured by BPH were also superior to those of the composites cured by DDM. This was probably the consequence of the effect of the substituted benzene group of BPH catalyst, resulting in an increase in the cross-link density and structural stability of the composites studied.

• Carbon letters
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.53-56
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• 2011

This study aimed to investigate the influence of mesoporous carbons on the thermal insulation properties of epoxy/mesoporous carbon composites. The mesoporous carbon (CMK-3) was prepared by conventional templating method using SBA-15. The epoxy/mesoporous carbon composites were prepared by mixing the synthesized CMK-3 with diglycidylether of bisphenol A (DGEBA). As experimental results, the curing reactivities of the DGEBA/CMK-3 composites were found to decrease with the addition of the CMK-3. Also, the thermal conductivities of DGEBA/CMK-3 composites were found to decrease with increasing CMK-3 content. This could be interpreted in terms of the slow thermal diffusion rate resulting in pore volume existing in the gaps in the interfaces between the mesoporous carbon and the DGEBA matrix.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society For Composite Materials Conference
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• 2005.04a
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• pp.111-115
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• 2005

Recently, natural fibers draw much interests in composite industry due to low cost, light weight, and environment-friendly characteristics compared with glass fibers. In this study, mechanical properties were evaluated for two extreme cases of jute fiber orientations, i.e. the unidirectional yarn composites and the felt fabric composites. Samples of jute fiber composites were fabricated by RTM process using epoxy resin, and tensile, compression, and shear tests were conducted. As can be expected, unidirectional fiber specimens in longitudinal direction showed the highest strength and modulus. Compared with glass/epoxy composites of the similar fabric architecture and fiber volume fraction, the tensile strength and modulus of jute felt/epoxy composites reached only 40% and 50% levels. However, the specific tensile strength and modulus increased to 80% and 90% of the glass/epoxy composites. The main reason for the poor mechanical properties of jute composites is associated with the weak interfacial bonding between fiber and matrix. The effect of surface treatment of jute fibers on the interfacial bonding will be examined in the future work.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.64-68
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• 2014

This study was conducted to investigate the durability of carbon fiber/epoxy composites (CFRP) in a saline water environment. The carbon fiber/epoxy composites were modified to use nanoparticles such as carbon nanotubes and titanum oxide. These hybrid composites were exposed to a saline water environment for a certain period. The weight gain according to the immersion time, a quasi-static tensile test, and micro-graphic characterization were used to investigate the samples exposed to the saline water environment. The weight gains increased with increasing immersion time. The weight gains of the hybrid composites were lower than that for pure CFRP throughout the entire immersion time. The tensile strengths decreased with increasing immersion time. The tensile strengths of the hybrid composites were higher than that of the pure CFRP throughout the entire immersion time. The pure CFRP was observed to be more degraded than the hybrid composites in the saline water environment. Therefore, it was concluded that the addition of nanoparticles to CFRP could lead to improved durability in a saline water environment.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.782-786
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• 2014

Various kinds of thermal conductive ceramic/polymer composites (aluminum nitride, aluminum oxide, boron nitride, and silicon carbide/epoxy) were prepared by a casting method and their optical images were observed by FE-SEM. Among these, SiC/epoxy composite shows inhomogeneous dispersion features of SiC and air voids in the epoxy matrix layer, resulting in undesirable thermal conductive properties. To enhance the thermal conductivities of SiC/epoxy composites, the epoxy wetting method which can directly infiltrate the epoxy droplet onto filtrated SiC cake was employed to fabricate the homogeneously dispersed SiC/epoxy composite for ideal thermal conductive behavior, with maximum thermal conductivity of 3.85W/mK at 70 wt% of SiC filler contents.

• Advanced Composite Materials
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.333-341
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• 2008

A novel manufacturing method for hybrid composites filled with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and aramid fibers is proposed. To disperse the CNTs in the epoxy matrix with the presence of aramid fibers, CNT/polyethyleneoxide (PEO) composites are prepared and utilized because PEO is miscible in the epoxy resin. After thin films are made of the CNT/PEO composite and placed together with the aramid fibers, the epoxy resin is infused to them. The PEO is dissolved in the epoxy and then the CNTs are dispersed in the PEO/epoxy matrix between aramid fibers before the pre-heated matrix is cured. It is found that the PEO is completely miscible with the epoxy resin and CNTs are dispersed well in the space between the aramid fibers.

• Journal of Power System Engineering
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.174-179
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• 2014

The wear behavior of epoxy matrix composites filled with nano sized silica particles is discussed in this paper. Especially, the variation of the coefficient of friction and the specific wear rate under the various applied load and sliding velocity were investigated for these materials. Wear tests of pin-on-disc mode were carried out and followed by scanning electron microscope observations. The presence of silica filler in epoxy composites was demonstrated significant influence on the friction and wear behavior of epoxy nanocomposites. With the incorporation of silica filler into the epoxy matrix, reduction of the coefficient of friction and specific wear rate were identified. Wear mechanism was discussed by analyzing the worn surface by scanning electron microscope as well.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society For Composite Materials Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.52-55
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• 2002

This paper examines the effective thermal conductivity of 3-D braided glass/epoxy composites. 3-D braided composites have a number of advantage over conventional laminate composites, including through-thickness reinforcement, and high damage tolerance and processability. The thermal properties of composites depend primarily on the microstructure of the braided preform and properties of constituent materials. A thermal resistance network model based on structure of the braided preform is proposed by using thermal-electrical analogy. In order to affirm the applicability theses solutions, thermal conductivities of 3-D braided glass/epoxy composites are measured

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.64 no.3
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• pp.287-292
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• 2017

In the present research, an available flexural stiffness degradation model was modified and a new comprehensive model called "X-NFSD" was developed. The X-NFSD model is capable of predicting the flexural stiffness degradation of composite specimen at different states of stresses and at room temperature. The model was verified by means of different experimental data for chopped strand mat/epoxy composites under displacement controlled bending loading condition at different displacements and states of stresses. The obtained results provided by the present model are impressively in very good agreement with the experimental data and the mean value of error of 5.4% was achieved.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.9 no.8
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• pp.763-767
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• 1999

Composite materials have been increasingly used in automotive and aircraft industries, naturally leading to active researches on the materials. Carbon-epoxy composites, one of major composite materials, are investigated to determine their thermal characteristics. Under conditions of thermal fatigues composed of repeated heatings and coolings, variations of elastic constants are studied for the carbon-epoxy composites to reveal the thermal nature of the composites. In general, composite materials are known to have decreasing elastic constants with increasing temperatures. However, in contrary to this commonly observed behavior, the results obtained in this investigation for the elastic constants of the carbon-epoxy composites show unexpected phenomena in that the elastic constants initially increase with increasing temperatures to certain point and decrease later with further increase in temperatures when the carbon-epoxy composites are subjected to thermal fatigues.