Effect of post-curing heat treatment of FRP composites

What is it about?

It is about investigation of the effects post-curing heat treatment on mechanical properties of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composite materials. The study includes composite material manufacturing, mechanical tests consist of tensile test and Charpy impact test, evaluation of the test results, application of ANOVA to determine the statistical significance of the test results.

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Why is it important?

Fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites have significant potential for applications in many engineering fields in place of metallic materials, due to their low density, high strength to weight ratio, high stiffness, better corrosion resistance and durability. The fabrication of these composites requires careful design and appropriate process developments to improve the mechanical properties. This study aims to investigate the effect of the post-cure heat treatment on the tensile and impact toughness of FRP composites. The post-curing process that improves mechanical properties of the composites and enhances their chemical durability and heat resistance can successfully be applied for composites and its adhesives. The knowledge about post-curing effect on impact and tensile strength of FRP composites is limited and further studies are needed. As it is stated in the literature, without post-curing heat treatment process, the polymer matrix is not strong enough and the failure of composites under loading mostly occurs due to the crushing of polymer matrix. The results showed that post-curing heat treatment process has a positive effect on mechanical properties of FRP composites in terms of impact toughness, tensile strength and percent elongation. This is because, during post-curing, the epoxy polymer matrix makes the composite stronger due to improved formation of cross-linking.

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