Title: Hydraulic Bulge Forming Comparison of Continuous and Stretch Broken Carbon Fiber Prepreg Laminates

Authors: Yoni Shchemelinin1, Jared W. Nelson2, Cecily Ryan1, Dilpreet Bajwa1, Doug Cairns1, Chris Ridgard1 and Roberta Amendola1

DOI: 10.33599/nasampe/s.24.0093

Abstract: The demand for carbon fiber reinforced polymer composites (CFRPs) is motivated by the increased need for high-strength, low-density materials, particularly in the automotive and aerospace industries. Stretch broken carbon fiber (SBCF) is a form of carbon fiber created by statistically distributed breakage of aligned fibers at inherent flaw points. The result is in a material constituted of collimated short fibers with an average length larger than chopped fibers. SBCF is being developed to address the formability limitations of continuous fiber, which is unable to undergo plastic deformation due to being a strong but brittle material. SBCF composites allow for a pseudo-plastic deformation during forming that can potentially enable the use of traditional metal forming techniques like stamping and press forming, widely used for mass production applications. Formability in an out-of-autoclave environment of continuous and SBCF prepreg quasi-isotropic laminates was compared by using an out-of-plane multiaxial stress hydraulic bulge test derived from sheet-metal testing. The SBCF demonstrated increased formability by showing greater, more symmetrical strains while requiring lower forming pressures. By demonstrating forming behavior more similar to sheet metal rather than continuous fiber laminates, the results show a potential for forming of CFRPs in low-cost forming assemblies by utilizing SBCF.

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Conference: SAMPE 2024

Publication Date: 2024/05/20

SKU: TP24-0000000093

Pages: 10

Price: $20.00