PROCESS-INDUCED INTERFACE AND INTERPHASE EXPERIMENTAL CHARACTERIZATION BY THERMOSET-THERMOPLASTIC COMPOSITE CO-CURING

Auteurs

Perrin H., Bonmartin M., Bodaghi M., Vaudemont R.

Référence

ICCM International Conferences on Composite Materials, 2023

Description

In this study, an aerospace-grade epoxy composite plate was co-curing welded by a unidirectional PEEK thermoplastic carbon fibre tape to develop advance composites joints. To account the surface roughness for the weldability of carbon epoxy/carbon PEEK composites, plasma treatments were performed. The co-curing was conducted by the following steps: each treated or non-treated thermoplastic tape was first placed in the mould and followed with six layers of dry woven carbon fabrics. The mould was sealed by vacuum bag and a bi-component thermoset (RTM6-2) impregnated the preform. To understand the role of curing kinetics, post-curing, curing temperature and dwell time on the quality of joints, five cure cycles were programmed. The strengths of welded joint were investigated by both interlayer peeling and single lap shear test. Furthermore, cross-sections of welded zones were assessed by scanning electron microscopy in terms of morphology of PEEK/epoxy interphase after co-curing. The preliminary results showed that cure cycle is an important controlling parameter for the crack propagation and degree of crystallization.