CARBON FIBER POLYMER MATRIX

COMPOSITES

A PROJECT REPORT

SUBMITTED IN COMPLETE FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS

FOR THE MID-TERM EXAMINATION EVALUATION

IN

[BASIC MECHANICAL ENGINEERING (PART-B)]

Submitted by:

HARSHIT GUPTA

2K20/A9/36

MOHUL KATYAL

2K20/A9/71

Under the supervision of

MR. RAVI BHUTOLA

 BASIC MECHANICAL ENGINEERING (PART-B)

DELHI TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

(FORMERLY Delhi College of Engineering)

Bawana Road, Delhi-110042

DECLARATION
We hereby certify that the work, which is presented in the Project entitled
CARBON FIBER POLYMER MATRIX COMPOSITES in fulfilment of the
requirement for the evaluation of the mid-term examination innovative project in
BASIC MECHANICAL ENGINEERING (PART-B) and submitted to the
Department of BASIC MECHANICAL ENGINEERING (PART-B), Delhi
Technological University, Delhi is an authentic record of our own, carried out
under the supervision of Mr. Ravi Bhutola.

Name : HARSHIT GUPTA Name : MOHUL KATYAL

Roll Number : 2K20/A9/36 Roll Number : 2K20/A9/71

B.Tech, Mechanical Engineering (A9) B.Tech, Mechanical Engineering(A9)

SUPERVISOR CERTIFICATE
To the best of my knowledge, the report comprises original work and has not been
submitted in part or full for any Course/Degree to this university or elsewhere as
per the candidate’s declaration.

Place: Delhi Supervisor name and signature

Date:

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 BASIC MECHANICAL ENGINEERING (PART-B)

DELHI TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

(FORMERLY Delhi College of Engineering)

Bawana Road, Delhi-110042

ABSTRACT
Composites, also known as Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (FRP) composites, are made
up of a polymer matrix reinforced with a man-made or natural fibre (such as glass,
carbon, or aramid) or other reinforcing material. The matrix protects the fibres
from external and environmental damage while also moving the load between
them. The fibres, in turn, add strength and stiffness to the matrix, making it more
resistant to cracks and fractures.

Carbon fibre reinforced polymer matrix composites were mainly powered by

applications in the defense-related aerospace industry, followed by the sporting
goods industry. The availability of a wide range of carbon fibres, as well as a
steady decline in their prices over time, and an equally wide range of polymer
matrix materials, made it easier for carbon fibre polymer composites to gain
prominence. Epoxy resins are the most common polymer matrix with carbon
fibres. Often used are polyester, polysulfone, polyimide, and thermoplastic resins.
In most of these composites, carbon fibres are the primary load-bearing
elements.The project also helped us to explore areas of renewable composites
which will definitely prove to be the future composite/material as the demand and
depletion in resources decreases day by day.

Different types of process routes that are layups are used to provide further
stiffness and surface finish to the composites. A number of techniques like hand
kayup, wet layup, vacuum bagging and autoclave are used depending upon the
fibre-resin matrix composition ratio and having their own advantages and
disadvantages.

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 BASIC MECHANICAL ENGINEERING (PART-B)

DELHI TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

(FORMERLY Delhi College of Engineering)

Bawana Road, Delhi-110042

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

In performing our major project, we had to take the help and guideline of some
respected persons, who deserve our greatest gratitude. The completion of this
assignment gives us much pleasure. We would like to show our gratitude to
Mr. Ravi Bhutola, Mentor for a major project. Giving us a good guideline for
report throughout numerous consultations. We would also like to extend our
deepest gratitude to all those who have directly and indirectly guided us in writing
this assignment.

Many people including our classmates and team members themselves have made
valuable comment suggestions on this proposal which gave us inspiration to
improve our assignment. We thank all the people for their help directly and
indirectly to complete our assignment.

In addition, we would like to thank Department of MECHANICAL

ENGINEERING, Delhi Technological University for giving us the opportunity to
work on this topic.

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 INDEX:
1. BASIC COMPOSITE THEORY
2. POLYMER MATRIX COMPOSITES
3. PROPERTIES OF DESIRED COMPOSITES

3.1 LOADING

3.2 FIBRE ORIENTATION

3.3 FATIGUE RESISTANCE

3.4 STRESS-STRAIN

4. RESINS
5. FIBRES

5.1 FIBRE TYPES

5.2 CARBON FIBRE

5.3 FIBRE ORIENTATION

5.3.1 UNIDIRECTIONAL

5.3.2 0/90 DEGREE

5.3.3 WOVEN

5.3.3.1 PLAIN

5.3.3.2 TWILL

5.3.3.3 SATIN

5.3.3.4 BASKET

5.3.3.5 LENO

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 6. RENEWABLE COMPOSITES
7. PROCESSING ROUTE

7.1 SPRAY LAY-UP

7.2 WET/HAND LAY-UP

7.3 VACUUM BAGGING

7.4 PREPREG-AUTOCLAVE

8. PROJECT OUTCOME
9. BIBLIOGRAPHY

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 CARBON FIBER POLYMER MATRIX COMPOSITES:

BASIC COMPOSITE THEORY:

To fully understand the benefits and properties of a composite material, a complete guide is
required to provide a necessary insight. This report focuses on the CARBON FIBRE POLYMER
MATRIX COMPOSITES and explains its various properties and complete finishing and
processing route.

Most composites consist of a bulk material and a reinforcement of some kind, added primarily to
increase the strength and stiffness of the matrix. The reinforcement is usually of the fibre form.
Today, the most common man-made composites are divided into three parts:

POLYMER MATRIX COMPOSITES(PMC’S): Fibre Reinforced Plastic Polymers (or

plastics) are materials made up of a polymer-based resin matrix and a variety of reinforcing
fibres such as glass, carbon, and aramid.

MATERIAL MATRIX COMPOSITES (MMC’S): These composites are increasingly

being used in the automobile industry and use metal such as aluminium as the matrix.

CERAMIC MATRIX COMPOSITES (CMC’S): Used in very high temperature

environments, these materials use ceramic as the matrix and reinforce it with short fibers such as
those made from silicon carbide and boron nitride.

POLYMER MATRIX COMPOSITES (PMC’S)

Materials such as glass, aramid and boron when stressed or compressed are caused to crack and
fail below the critical point called as the breaking point. Now, to overcome this problem, bundles
of fibres are used as the matrix of the composite.

However, a fibre matrix can alone not exhibit tensile properties along the fibre’s length.
Therefore, the resin systems are combined with fibres such as glass and carbon to attain desirable
and exceptional properties of the resulting composite.

The role of the resin matrix is to spread the applied load to the composite between each of the
individual fibres and also protects the fibres from the damage caused by abrasion and impact.

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 figure: tensile strength vs strain graph

Overall, the properties of a composite are determined by various factors like:

1. Properties of the fibre

2. Properties of the resin

3. Ration of the fibre to resin I the composite

4. The geometry and orientation of fibres in the composite.

Since fibres have much better mechanical properties than resins, the higher the fibre volume
fraction, the better the mechanical properties of the resulting composites.

Since fibres have their highest mechanical properties along their lengths rather than across their
widths, the geometry of the fibres is also important. As a result, evaluating the magnitude and
direction of the applied loads, as well as selecting the required fibre to withstand the applied
load, is crucial during the design stage.

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 PROPERTIES OF THE DESIRED COMPOSITES:
1 LOADING: There are four main direct loads that any structure has to withstand.

TENSION: The composite’s response to tensile loads is very dependent on the tensile
stiffness and strength properties of the reinforcement fibres.

COMPRESSION: Here, the adhesive and the stiffness properties of the resin system are
considered, as it is the role of the resin to maintain the fibres in form of straight columns.

SHEAR: Under the shear load, the resin plays the major role of transferring the stresses across
the composite. For the composite to perform well under shear loads the resin must not only
exhibit good mechanical proper ties but must also have high adhesion to the reinforcement fibre.

FLEXURE: These loads are really a combination of tensile, compression and shear loads.
When loaded, the upper ace is put into compression, the lower face into tension and the central
portion of the laminate experiences shear.

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2 FIBRE ORIENTATION:
Because of the increased probability of bucking, misalignment of fibres causes a drastic loss of
mechanical properties, especially in compression. When using unidirectional fabrics, tapes, or
tows, precise fibre alignment during product manufacturing is important to ensure that loads are
transmitted effectively and that the benefits of using composite materials are maximised.

3 RESISTANCE TO FATIGUE:
As compared to other metals, composites have excellent fatigue resistance. The hardness of the
resin, its resistance to microcracking, and the quantity of voids and other defects that occur
during manufacturing will all affect the fatigue behaviour.

4 STRESS-STRAIN:
Strength of a laminate is usually thought in terms of how much load it can withstand before it
suffers complete failure.

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 LAMINATES
Many composite structures are made up of useful parts by piling fibre or fabric piles on top of
one another. The properties of the laminate are not consistent across the thickness of the
component since the direction of the fibres can be carried, and they are considered strongly
anisotropic in all three planes.

RESINS
Polymers are a term used to describe the resins used in fibre reinforced composites. Polymers all
have one thing in common: they're made up of long chain-like molecules with sile repeating
structural units. These polymers are known as either ‘thermoplastic' or ‘thermosetting.'

The selection of a resin system for use in any component is based on a variety of factors, the
most important of which are probably the following for most composite structures.

a. ADHESIVE PROPERTIES: Adhesive properties are important in realising the

full mechanical properties of a composite. Polyester resins generally have the lowest
adhesive properties whereas vinyl resin shows improved adhesive properties over
polyester but epoxy systems offer the best performance of all.

b. MECHANICAL PROPERTIES: Two mechanical properties of a resin system

are its tensile strength and stiffness. After a cure period of 7 days at room temp.,it can be
seen that a typical epoxy will have higher properties than a typical polyester and
vinylester for both strength and stiffness.

c. DEGRADATION FROM WATER INGRESS: An important property of a

resin is its ability to withstand degradation from water ingress. All resins will absorb
some moisture, adding to a laminate’s weight, but what is more significant is how the
absorbed water affects the resin and resin/fibre bond in laminate

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 FIBRES
The mechanical properties of the fiber-resin composite is dominated by the contribution of the
fibre to the composite. The four main governing factors are:

a. The basic mechanical properties of fibre itself

b. The surface interaction of fibre and the resin

c. The amount of fibre in the composite

d. The orientation of the fibre in the composite.

FIBRE TYPES:
There are various types of fibres such as GLASS, CARBON, ARMAMID, POLYESTER,
CERAMICS, etc. but we will be restricting our discussion till the carbon fiber and its related
composites only.

THE CARBON FIBER:

Production of Carbon Fiber is done by controlled oxidation, carbonisation and graphitization of
the carbon-rich materials which are already in fiber form. The most common precursor is
Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) because it gives the best carbon fiber properties, but fibres can also be
made from cellulose. Once formed, the carbon fibre has a surface treatment applied to improve
its matrix bonding and the chemical sizing which serves to protect it during handling.

Carbon fibres are usually grouped according to their modulus band in which their properties fall.
These bands are commonly referred as:

a. High strength (HS)

b. Intermediate strength (IM)

c. High modulus (HM)

d. Ultra-high modulus (UHM)

The filament diameter of almost all types of carbon fiber is about 5-7 micrometre. Carbon fiber
has the highest specific stiffness of any commercially available fibre, very high strength on both
tension and compression and a high resistance to corrosion,creep and fatigue. Their impact
strength is however lower than either glass or aramid fibres.

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 Fig: CARBON FIBER

FIBER ORIENTATION:
Fabric orientations are categorised by the orientation of the fabrics used, and by the various
construction methods which are used to hold the fibres together. The four main fibre orientation
categories are: unidirectional, 0/90 degrees, multiaxial and random. These are described below:

1. UNIDIRECTIONAL FABRICS:
A unidirectional (UD) fabric is one in which the majority of fibres run in one direction only.
Unidirectional fabrics usually have their primary fibres in the 0-degree direction but can also
have them at 90 degree to the roll length.

True and optimum unidirectional fabrics offer the ability to place the component exactly where it
is required, and in the optimum quantity. Moreover, these fibres are straight and uncrimped
which results in the highest possible fibre properties from a fabric in composite component
construction. Unidirectional fabrics can be improved by preparing unidirectional tape.

2. 0/90 DEGREE FABRICS:

For applications where more than one fiber orientation is required, a fabric combining 0 degree
and 90-degree fibre orientation is useful. the majority of these are woven products.

3. WOVEN FABRICS:
These are produced by interlacing of warp (0-deg) and welt (90-deg) fibres in a regular pattern or
weave style. The fabric’s integrity is maintained by the mechanical interlocking of the fibres. The
following is the description of some of the commonly found weave styles:

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 a. PLAIN:

The fabric is symmetrical, stable, and porosity is appropriate. It is, however, the most
difficult weave to drape, and the high degree of fibre crimp confers poor mechanical
properties as compared to the other weave types.

b.TWILL:

In a standard repetitive pattern, one or more warp fibres alternately weave over and
under two or more weft fibres. As a result, the fabric seems to have a straight or split
diagonal. The fabric has a smoother surface and marginally higher mechanical
properties due to the decreased crimp.

c. SATIN:

These weaves are fundamentally twill weaves modified to produce fewer

intersections of warp and weft. Satin weaves are very flat, have good wet out and a
high degree of drape. The low crimp gives good mechanical properties. Care must be
taken in assembling the multiple layers of these fabrics to ensure that stresses are not
built into the component through this asymmetric effect.

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 d.BASKET:

Basket weave is fundamentally the same as the plain weave except that two or more
wrap fibres alternately interlace with two or more weft fibres. However, the
orientation of fibres need not be symmetrical. Basket weave is flatter and is through
less crimp, stronger than a plane weave, but less stable and it must be used on heavy
weight fabrics made with thick fibres to avoid excess crimping.

e. LENO:
Leno weave improves the stability in “open” fabrics which have a low fiber count.
Fabrics in leno weave are normally used in conjunction with other weave styles
because if they are used alone, their openness cannot produce an effective composite
component.

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 RENEWABLE COMPOSITES

A LOOK INTO THE FUTURE COMPOSITES

Interest in constructing composite materials from bio sourced, recycled materials; waste
resources; and their combinations is growing. Bio composites have attracted the attention of
automakers for the design of lightweight parts. Hybrid bio composites made of
petrochemical-based and bioresource materials have led to technological advances in
manufacturing. Greener bio composites made of plant-derived fibres and crop-derived plastics
with a higher biobased content are being produced all the time. Biodegradable composites have
shown that they have a lot of promise in terms of sustainable packaging.

One of the most important aspects of the next generation of industrial practise is the use of
composite materials created from renewable and sustainable resources. Their the popularity is
fueled by a number of factors, including the need for long-term development, energy security, a
lower carbon footprint, and efficient resource management, all while the materials' functional
properties improve. Innovative sustainable resources such as bio sourced materials, as well as
wastes, coproducts, and recycled materials, can be used as both the matrix and reinforcement in
composites to minimize the use of non-renewable resources and to make better use of waste
streams.

The challenge of separating individual components from their structures to allow recycling at the
end of a material's service life is the primary environmental issue with composite materials.
Biofibres, which include wood and other natural fibres such as flax, jute, sisal, and cotton, can be
used to strengthen fossil fuel–based plastics, resulting in bio composite materials. Bio
composites are synthetic glass fiber–reinforced biobased plastics like polylactides (PLAs). Many
auto parts, as well as decking, furniture, and housing applications, now use biofibre-PP and
biofibre-UPE composites as a product. Hybrid bio composites of natural and synthetic fibres, as
well as mixed matrix structures, are another important technique for developing new biobased
composite groups.

Increased sustainability in the composites industry necessitates fundamental and groundbreaking

research aimed at the creation of completely green composites. Sustainable composites can be
made with renewable resource–based sustainable polymers and bioplastics, as well as advanced
green fibres like lignin-based carbon fibre and nanocellulose.

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Fibers and fillers from renewable and sustainable
resources:
Plastic resins are kept in a continuous phase in polymer composites, while fibres and fillers are
kept in a discontinuous phase to have reinforcing results. The interface between the fibres and
the polymer matrix determines the composite's performance. The interface and related interfacial
bonding are important targets in composite science because stress transfer between the fibre and
polymer matrix determines overall mechanical efficiency.

Lignocellulosic plant fibres

Wood and non-wood fibres are broadly included in this group, which is also known as natural
fibre or biofibre. Biofibres have many advantages over conventional glass fibres and mineral
fillers, including lower density, lower cost, environmental friendliness, and improved efficiency
in some applications. Wood is the most widely used natural filler for composite applications
among the available natural fillers.

Biocarbon, a new sustainable filler and functional

material
Biocarbon, also known as biochar, is a modern organic material that can be used in a variety of
applications. Biochar's uses in bio composites aren't limited to filler and reinforcement; it's also
useful in the construction of next-generation usable carbon materials for applications in energy
storage and filtration. Liquid bio-oil, solid biochar, and syngas are generated by the
thermochemical conversion of biomass when oxygen is absent or in short supply (also known as
pyrolysis).

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 PROCESSING ROUTE:
The end properties of a composite component made from various materials are determined not
only by the individual properties of the resin matrix and fibre, but also by how the materials are
built into the part and processed. This section compares a few of the most popular composite
production methods and discusses some of the considerations that should be made for each
process, such as the impact of each process on material selection.

SPRAY LAY-UP:

Fibre is chopped in a hand-held gun and is fed into a spray of catalysed resin directed at the
mould. The deposited materials are left to cure under standard atmospheric conditions.

MATERIAL OPTIONS:

Resins: Primarily polyester

Fibres: Glass roving only

Cores: none. These have to be incorporated separately.

MAIN ADVANTAGES:

1. Low-cost way of quickly depositing fibre and resin.

2. Low-cost tooling

DISADVANTAGES:

1. Laminates are resin-rich and tend to be heavy.

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2. Only short fibres can be incorporated.

3. Resin needs to be low in viscosity to be sprayable.

4. The high styrene contents of the spray layup resins generally means that they have the
potential to be more harmful and lower viscosity means that they have an increased tendency
to penetrate clothing, etc.

TYPICAL APPLICATIONS: Applications and areas of usage include simple enclosures,

lightly loaded structural panels, e.g.: caravan bodies, truck fairings, bathtubs, shower types, etc.

WET LAYUP/ HAND LAYUP:

Resins are hand-impregnated into fibres in the form of woven, knitted, stitched, or bonded
fabrics, which is normally done with rollers or brushes. Under normal atmospheric conditions,
laminates are allowed to heal.

MATERIAL OPTIONS:

Resins: Any, e.g.: epoxy, polyester, vinyl ester, phenolic

Fibres: Any, although heavy aramid fabrics can be hard to wet-out by hand.

Cores: Any

ADVANTAGES:

1. Simple principles involved.

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2. Low-cost tooling, if room-temperature cure resins are used

3. Higher fibre contents, and longer fibres than with spray lay-up.

DISADVANTAGES:

1. Limiting airborne styrene concentrations to legislated levels from polyesters and vinyl esters
is becoming increasingly hard without expensive extraction systems.

2. Resins need to be low in viscosity content to be workable by hand. This generally

compromises their mechanical and thermal properties due to the requirement for high
diluent/styrene levels.

3. Health and safety considerations of the resin.

TYPICAL APPLICATIONS: Standard wind-turbine blades, boats and architectural

mouldings.

VACUUM BAGGING (WET LAY-UP):

This is essentially an extension of the above-mentioned wet lay-up procedure, in which pressure
is applied to the laminate after it has been laid up to improve its consolidation. This is done by
applying a plastic film to the wet laminate and the tool. A vacuum pump extracts the air under
the container, allowing up to one atmosphere of pressure to be applied to the laminate to
consolidate it.

MATERIAL OPTIONS:

Resins: primarily epoxy and phenolic

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Fibres: a variety of heavy fabrics van be wet-out

Cores: Any

ADVANTAGES:

1. High fibre content laminates can usually be achieved than with standard wet lay-up
technique.

2. Lower void contents are achieved with wet lay-up.

3. Health and safety

4. Better fibre wet-out due to pressure and resin flow throughout structural fibres, with excess
into bagging materials.

DISADVANTAGES:

1. The extra process adds cost both in labour and in disposable bagging materials.

2. A higher level of skill is required by the operators.

3. Although the vacuum bag reduces volatiles, exposure is still higher than infusion or prepreg
processing techniques.

TYPICAL APPLICATIONS: Large, one-ff cruising boats, race car components,

core-bonding in production boats.

PREPREG – AUTOCLAVE:

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MATERIAL OPTIONS:

Resins: Generally, epoxy, polyester, phenolic and high temperature resins such as polyamides
and cyanate esters

Fibres: Any and are used either direct from a creel or as any type of fabric.

Cores: Any, although special types of foam need to be used due to elevated temperatures and
pressures involved in the process.

ADVANTAGES:

1. Resin/catalyst levels and the resin content In the fibre are accurately set by the materials
manufacturer.

2. The materials have excellent health and safety characteristics and are clean to work with and
have the potential for automation.

3. Resin chemistry can be optimised for mechanical and thermal performance, with high
viscosity resins being impregnable due to manufacturing process.

4. Potential for automation and labour saving

DISADVANTAGES:

1. Material cost is higher for impregnated fabrics but for these applications expensive advanced
resins are often required.

2. Curing the part typically necessitates the use of an autoclave. These are costly, slow to run,
and have a small capacity.

3. Tooling must be able to withstand the process temperatures, and core materials must be able to
withstand the pressures and temperatures.

4. Prepreg plies must be warm "debulked" during the lay-up process for thicker laminates to
ensure that air is removed from between the plies.

TYPICAL APPLICATIONS: Aircraft structural components (e.g.: wings and tail

sections), F1 racing cars.

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 PROJECT OUTCOME

The project report presented by us is a layout of all the necessary information available for
carbon fibre reinforced polymers which is gradually becoming one of the most popular and
useful composite due to its varied applications and easy to manufacture processes and cost. The
report looks into the necessary ratios and advantages of using composites and how adding resin
to the fibre in a specific ratio improves the overall properties of the polymer matrix. The report
entails various factors on which the strength of the composite depends on like the maination
used, the percentage of resin mixed, the different types of weaves and how each weave provides
strength to the matrix.

Further, a detailed analysis has also been made for the processing route of the composite so as to
give it more strength and a good surface finish. Various layups have been taken into account on
the basis of the different core materials, fibre and resins used. Different layups have different
advantages and disadvantages and their corresponding applications depending upon the type of
composite matrix used. The report indeed accomplishes its aims to provide the manufacturing
and applications.The project also helped us to explore areas of renewable composites which will
definitely prove to be the future composite/material as the demand and depletion in resources
decreases day by day. CFRPs can be expensive to produce, but are commonly used wherever
high strength-to-weight ratio and stiffness (rigidity) are required, such as aerospace,
superstructures of ships, automotive, civil engineering, sports equipment, and an increasing
number of consumer and technical applications.

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 REFERENCES

● https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/carbon
-fibre-reinforced-polymer
● https://www.researchgate.net/publication/309962841_Carb
on_Fibre_Polymer_Matrix_Structural_Composites
● https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-10-2134-3
_14
● https://www.materialsciencejournal.org/vol14no1/carbon-fi
bres-production-properties-and-potential-use/
● GURIT- GUIDE TO COMPOSITES
● https://science.sciencemag.org/content/362/6414/536.abst
ract
● https://www.thoughtco.com/understanding-cfrp-composit
es-820393.

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