DONE BY ANYAH SAMPSON OBASSI M2R

LABORATOIRE D’ENERGIE, MATERIAUX, MODELISATION ET

METHODES

GENIE MECANIQUE ET MATERIAUX

COMPOSITE MATERIAL

HOMEWORK 1 & 2

DONE BY :
ANYAH SAMPSON OBASSI 21G20256

SUPERVISED BY : Dr. Gnidakouong Ngouanom

05/05/22

ANNEE ACADEMIQUE
0 2021 – 2022
DONE BY ANYAH SAMPSON OBASSI M2R

HOME WORK 2

But ( )

4 ( )

Solutions: (1.25 x ) ( )

( ) 1.3863=14.0386 ( )
( )

∫( )
∫ , let u = ,
du=-

∫ ∫ ∫ ∫
(b)
* + [ ] [ ]

[ ]

* +

But u= ( ) ( ) (c) At

( )
( )

( )

(1.25 x ) ( )
Solutions
But
(a) , at t=1minutes =

=80% =

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But ( )

( )

Solutions

1.

ln(gel time) 1/T

1.386294361 0.00242
2.014903021 0.00248
2.63905733 0.00254
3.218875825 0.00261
3.535145354 0.00264

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2. ( ) ( ) ( )

JK-1mol-1
( )
( )
K/min

3. At T=100+273.15 = 373.15K
( )

At T=150+273.15 = 423.15
( )

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Solutions

a)

( ) ( ) ( )

( ) ( ) ( )

( )

b)

c)

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HOME WORK 1

1. Briefly define the following terms related to fibers, thermosetting resins, and
composite manufacturing:
(a) E-glass fiber, S-glass fiber
(b) Prepreg
(c) Gel time
(d) Post-cure
(e) B-stage
(f) Fiber volume fraction

Answer

a. E-glass is the standard glass composition used for most glass fibers made from the
oxides of silicon, aluminum, calcium, magnesium and boron. It exhibits the following
mechanical properties;
 Density: 2.54g/cm3
 Tensile strength: 3,400MPa
 Modulus of elasticity: 72GPa
 Percent elongation:4.7

S-glass is a high performance glass fiber, which has a higher silica content as
compared with E-glass and it contains the oxides of silicon, aluminum and
magnesium. It has the following mechanical properties:

 Density: 2.53g/cm3
 Tensile strength:4600MPa
 Modulus of elasticity: 89GPa
 Percent elongation:5.2
b. Prepreg it is a Reinforcing material which is pre-impregnated with a thermosetting
resin which can be processed without any further addition of resin or hardener.
c. Gel time it is the time taken for a mixed resin system to gel or become so high in
viscosity that it can no longer be cobsidered workable or able to be handled without
impeding the curing process.
d. Post-cure it is the process of exposing a part or mold to elevated temperature to speed
up the curing process and to maximize some of the material‟s physical properties. It is
usually done after the material has cured at room temperaturefor at least 12hours.
e. B-stage expoxy resin is a descriptive term used to define a component expoxy
system,using a latent(low reactivity) curing agent. This unique product can be
partially cured (sometimes referred to as „pre-dried‟)as an initial stage after being
applied onto one substrate/surface.
f. Fiber volume fraction it is the percentage of fiber volume in the entire volume of a
fiber reinforced composite material. When manufacturing polymer composites,fibers
are impregnated with resin.

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2. Survey and describe how carbon fibers are manufactured. Make a list of their typical
mechanical (elastic modulus, tensile strength, % elongation to break, etc.), electrical
(conductivity), and thermal (conductivity) properties.

Answer

 Manufacturing Process
 Carbon fibers are manufactured from two types of precursors (starting materials), namely,
textile precursors and pitch precursor.
 The most common textile precursor is polyacrylonitrile (PAN ).The molecular structure
of PAN, contains highly polar CN groups that are randomly arranged on either side of the
chain

Molecular structure of
PAN

Rigid ladder structure

Figure 1 Flow chart of carbon fiber manufacturing

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 The PAN carbon fibers have lower thermal conductivity and electrical conductivity than
pitch carbon fibers.
 For both types of carbon fibers, the higher the tensile modulus, the higher are the thermal
and electrical conductivities.

Table 1: structural features and controlling parameters Affecting the properties of

carbon fibres

Carbon fibers has a high modulus of elasticity

The stiffness of a material is measured by its modulus of elasticity. The modulus of carbon
fiber is 228GPa which made carbon fibers to have a high stiffness.
Carbon Fiber has good Tensile Strength
Tensile strength or ultimate strength, is the maximum stress that a material can withstand
while being stretched or pulled before necking, or failing. Necking is when the sample cross-
section starts to significantly contract. If you take a strip of plastic bag, it will stretch and at
one point will start getting narrow. This is necking. It is measured in Force per Unit area.
Brittle materials such as carbon fiber does not always fail at the same stress level because of
internal flaws. They fail at small strains.
Carbon fiber has a high percentage elongation
Carbon fiber has an average monofilament percentage elongation of 1.5%.
Carbon fiber is Electrically Conductive
This feature can be useful and be a nuisance. In Boat building It has to be taken into account
just as Aluminium conductivity comes into play. Carbon fiber conductivity can facilitate
Galvanic Corrosion in fittings. Careful installation can reduce this problem.
Thermal Conductivity of Carbon Fiber
Thermal conductivity is the quantity of heat transmitted through a unit thickness, in a
direction normal to a surface of unit area, because of a unit temperature gradient, under
steady conditions. In other words its a measure of how easily heat flows through a material.
Because there are many variations on the theme of carbon fiber it is not possible to pinpoint
exactly the thermal conductivity. Special types of Carbon Fiber have been specifically
designed for high or low thermal conductivity. There are also efforts to Enhance this feature.

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3. Kevlar 49 (aramid) fiber strands are used in many high-strength cable applications where
its outstanding strength-to-weight ratio leads to a considerable weight saving over steel
cables.

(a) From the molecular structure standpoint, what makes Kevlar such a high performing
fiber?

(b) Compare the breaking loads of Kevlar 49 and steel cables, each with a 6.4 mm
diameter. (Hint: Breaking load = ultimate tensile strength X cross-sectional area)

(c) Compare the specific moduli and strengths of glass fiber, carbon fiber, Kevlar, and
Spectra (ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene).(Hint:“specific”=per density)

Solutions

a.
 Aramid fibers are highly crystalline aromatic polyamide fibers that have the lowest
density and the highest tensile strength to-weight ratio among the current reinforcing
fibers.
 The aromatic ring gives it a higher chain stiffness (modulus) as well as better chemical
and thermal stability over other commercial organic fibers, such as nylons.

b.

From the calculations we can observed that the breaking load of Kevlar 49 is greater than that
of steel cables.

c.

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4. The linear density of a dry carbon fiber tow is 0.198 g/m. The density of the carbon
fiber is 1.76 g/cm3 and the average filament diameter is 7um. Determine the number
of filaments in the tow.

Solution

( )
( )( )

5. The filament strength distribution of a carbon fiber is represented by the Weibull

distribution function given in the lesson. The following Weibull parameters are
known for this particular carbon fiber: =6.58 and σ0 = 2.56 GPa at Lf =200 mm.
Determine the filament strength at which 99% of the filaments are expected to fail if
the filament length is (a) 20 mm, (b) 100 mm, (c) 200 mm, and (d) 500 mm.
Solutions

⌈ ( ( ))⌉

6.

Solutions

( )

( )

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7.

Solutions

( )

( )

√
( )

Interfiber spacing (R) between each corner fiber is given by

[( ) ]

For maximum volume, R=0, which gives

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