Characterization of Fibre Reinforcements for Non-structural Composite Parts

Abstract

Fibre reinforced composite materials have attracted attention from industry and academia due to their high specific stiffness and strength. Commonly used manufacturing processes include the Liquid Composite Moulding (LCM) group of processes, where a liquid polymer resin impregnates a dry preform that is prepared in advance. The consistency of the resin infusion process and properties of the final composite are highly dependent on preform quality and reproducibility. Preform quality, in turn, depends on a process called draping. This work aims at understanding and developing quantitative knowledge of key elements of reinforcement behaviour during preforming. Testing characterization methods for dry fabrics are introduced and discussed. Moreover, the thesis probes relations between fabric properties such as their architecture and fibre type, and elements of their draping and preforming behaviour such as bending stiffness and in-plane shear properties of the dry fabrics. Most materials used in this work were selected by the industrial partner, Hutchinson Aerospace and Industry, based in Montreal. Some experiments were conducted using Hutchinson’s characterization devices, which are introduced in the relevant chapters.