Influence of environmental conditioning on mechanical properties of carbon dry fibre preformed thermoplastic matrix composites manufactured via automated placement-resin infusion process

In the present work, dry fibre placement (DFP) of co-polyamide based carbon fibre spreadtow bindered tape for fabrication of thermoplastic acrylic resin composites was explored. The DFP followed by vacuum assisted liquid resin infusion (LRI) is expected to be an alternative process to traditional preforming approaches. This research work looks at the influence of water immersion on the performance of the composites was studied. The thermo mechanical behaviour of the aged and unaged samples were carried out as a function of temperature. The flexural strength of aged samples dropped by 4 and 17% after one and three months respectively. However, no significant changes were observed in flexural modulus compared to unaged. The interlaminar shear strength decreased by 19% and 35% after one month immersion and three months immersion. The results were complimented by fractographic and morphological studies.