Title: An E-Glass Prepreg for Producing Transparent Composites

Authors: Tianlei Zhou, Craig Homrighausen, Scott Wolfe, Brandon Gregoire, Jeremy Derebeck, Hidekazu Kawakubo, Mike Palmer, Ayumi Takaoka

DOI: 10.33599/nasampe/c.22.0043

Abstract: The concept of transparent composites is appealing as it offers the unique opportunity of achieving both light transmission comparable to see-through engineering thermoplastics as well as mechanical properties characteristic of fiber-reinforced plastics. A previously reported transparent composite utilizing a thermoset resin from Kaneka Aerospace and S-2 Glass® fiber from AGY demonstrated exceptional light transmittance of over 90%, as well as exhibiting an order of magnitude higher tensile strength and tensile modulus. This system was optimized for infusion and filament winding processes. Continuing with our previous success, the first-generation prepreg for transparent composites has been developed using a novel thermoset resin from Kaneka Aerospace and a proprietary E-glass fiber from AGY. The featured prepreg offers excellent handling and processing characteristics including favorable tack, extended tack life, and demonstrating the capability of an out-of-autoclave cure. This system is also shown to allow for an accelerated cure. Most importantly, the light transmission of the cured composite is shown to be similar to that of transparent engineering plastics. Mechanical properties are measured and compared to E-glass composites using commercially available epoxy thermosets. This prepreg system expands the use of transparent composites to one of the most widely used manufacturing processes for producing composite materials.

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Conference: CAMX 2022

Publication Date: 2022/10/17

SKU: TP22-0000000043

Pages: 11

Price: $22.00