Abstract
This work discusses the development and refinement of a polymer/fibre through thickness reinforcement method. Similar in initial concept to the traditional metalworking process of riveting this allows the manufacture of through thickness reinforced 2-D preforms. Pins are placed with deliberate excess length using a veterinary needle to part in-plane fibres. A lay-up with an array of pins is then subjected to a hot-press process flattening the pin ends resulting in a consolidated preform. This preform exhibits useful characteristics such as the ability to be cut and reformed to a new topology, with the through thickness reinforcement also conforming to the new shape. Refinements to the process introduce a multi-stage press process aimed at improving pin orientation with both original and refined processes evaluated using ASTM D5528 to determine the effect on interlaminar fracture toughness.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 445-453 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Plastics, Rubber and Composites |
| Volume | 51 |
| Issue number | 8 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published (in print/issue) - 8 Aug 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This work was primarily sponsored by the Northern Ireland Department for the Economy (DFE) with additional support from the “Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council”, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), Centre for Innovative Composites Hub (CimComp) and Spirit AeroSystems Inc (formerly Bombardier Ltd).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Keywords
- Composites
- interlaminar fracture toughness
- through thickness reinforcement