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The long cycle of manufacturing continuous carbon fiber-reinforced composite has significantly limited its application in mass vehicle production. High-pressure resin transfer molding (HP-RTM) is the process with the ability to manufacture composites in a relatively short forming cycle (

Unidirectional carbon fiber-reinforced polymer nanocomposites were developed by adding alumina (Al2O3) and silicon carbide (SiC) nanoparticles using ultrasonication and magnetic stirring. The uniform nanoparticle dispersions were examined with a field-emission scanning electron microscope. The nano-phase matrix was then utilized to fabricate the hybrid carbon fiber-reinforced polymer nanocomposites by hand lay-up and compression molding. The weight fractions selected for Al2O3 and SiC nanoparticles were determined based on improvements in mechanical properties. Accordingly, the hybrid nanocomposites were fabricated at weight fractions of 1, 1.5, 1.75, and 2 wt.% for Al2O3. Likewise, the weight fractions selected for SiC were 1, 1.25, 1.5, and 2 wt.%. At 1.75 wt.% Al2O3 nanoparticle loading, the flexural strength modulus improved by 31.76% and 37.08%, respectively. Additionally, the interlaminar shear and impact strength enhanced by 40.95% and 47.51%, respectively. For SiC nanocomposites, improvements in flexural strength (12.79%) and flexural modulus (9.59%) were accomplished at 1.25 wt.% nanoparticle loading. Interlaminar shear strength was enhanced by 34.27%, and maximum impact strength was improved by 30.45%. Effective particle interactions with polymeric chains of epoxy, crack deflection, and crack arresting were the micromechanics accountable for enhancing the mechanical properties of nanocomposites.

In response to the high demand for light automotive, manufacturers are showing a vital interest in replacing heavy metallic components with composite materials that exhibit unparalleled strength-to-weight ratios and excellent properties. Unidirectional carbon/epoxy prepreg was suitable for automotive applications such as the front part of the vehicle (hood) due to its excellent crash performance. In this study, UD carbon/epoxy prepreg with 70% and 30% volume fraction of reinforcement and resin, respectively, was used to fabricate the composite laminates. The responses of different three stacking sequences of automotive composite laminates to low-velocity impact damage and flexural and crash performance properties were investigated. Three-point bending and drop-weight impact tests were carried out to determine the flexural modulus, strength, and impact damage behavior of selected materials. Optical microscopy analysis was used to identify the failure modes in the composites. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and C-scan non-destructive methods were utilized to explore the fractures in the composites after impact tests. Moreover, the performance index and absorbed energy of the tested structures were studied. The results showed that the flexural strength and modulus of automotive composite laminates strongly depended on the stacking sequence. The highest crash resistance was noticed in the laminate with a stacking sequence of [[0, 90, 45, −45]2, 0, 90]S. Therefore, the fabrication of a composite laminate structure enhanced by selected stacking sequences is an excellent way to improve the crash performance properties of automotive composite structures.

In-situ embedding with Additive Manufacturing (AM) enables a user to insert functional components in a part by pausing the print, inserting the component into a specially designed cavity, and then resuming the print. This introduces the capability to merge the reliable functionality of external parts into AM structures, allowing multifunctional products to be manufactured in a single build. Previous research has shown that process interruption introduces weaknesses at the paused layer, and the presence of an embedding cavity further reduces the maximum tensile strength of the part. The research presented in this paper expands this understanding by investigating the impact of the process and design considerations for embedding on the strength of the material extrusion parts. A cuboidal geometry is embedded with different orientations with a flush surface at the paused layer, and tested for maximum bending strength. The findings help to further design guidelines for embedding with material extrusion AM.

Composites based on natural fibre reinforcement have generated wide research and engineering interest in the last few decades due to their small density, high specific strength, low cost, light weight, recyclability and biodegradability and has earned a special category of green composite. In this paper, sundi wood dust reinforced epoxy composite were processed with seven different % filler wt. The tensile and flexural tests were performed at three different speeds to study the mechanical behaviour of the composites. From the observation it was found that the mechanical property increases up to certain filler % age and then properties gradually decrease. The microstructure of the composites is also studied to analyze the change using scanning electron microscopy.

This paper presents an experimental study to evaluate the combined effect of nano-SiO2 particles and steel fibers on flexural properties of concrete composites containing fly ash. In this study, five different nano-SiO2 contents (1%, 3%, 5%, 7%, and 9%) and five different steel fiber contents (0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, 2%, and 2.5%) were used. The results indicate that addition of nano-SiO2 and steel fibers decreases the workability of the concrete composites containing fly ash, and both the slump and slump flow decrease gradually with the increase in nano-SiO2 and steel fiber content. Besides, the addition of nano-SiO2 can greatly increase the flexural strength and flexural modulus of elasticity of concrete composites containing fly ash. There is a tendency for the increase in the flexural strength flexural modulus of elasticity with an increase in the nano-SiO2 content when the nano-SiO2 content is below 5%, while both of the two flexural parameters begin to decrease after the nano-SiO2 content above 5%. Furthermore, steel fibers have great improvement on the flexural properties of concrete composites containing fly ash and nano-particles. The flexural strength and flexural modulus of elasticity of concrete composites containing fly ash and nano-SiO2 are more than those of the concrete composite without steel fibers. Both of the two flexural parameters increase with the increase in steel fiber content when the steel fiber content is below 2%, while the flexural parameters begin to decrease after the steel fiber content is above 2%.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were in-situ grown in carbon felts using ferric chloride as catalyst and natural gas as carbon precursor via thermal gradient chemical vapor infiltration (TGCVI). Subsequently, the carbon felts were densified to obtain CNT reinforced carbon/carbon (C/C) composites in the same furnace. Effects of CNTs on the microstructure and flexural property of C/C composites were investigated by polarized light microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and universal mechanical testing machine. The results of PLM observation and Raman analysis showed that CNTs have two-sided effects on the microstructure of pyrocarbon: the pyrocarbons in the region without CNTs show medium texture; while, in the region full of CNTs, the microstructure was low-textured or even isotropic though the TGCVD conditions would lead to the deposition of pure low texture pyrocarbons. Analysis based on stress–strain curves demonstrated that the flexural strength increased first and then decreased with the CNT content increasing. When the CNT content was 5.23 wt%, the flexural strength was maximum and had a nearly 35% improvement compared with pure C/C composite. Besides, after adding CNTs, the flexural modulus of the composites decreased and the ductility increased obviously, indicating CNTs can toughen C/C composites.

A study of the effect of alkaline treatment on the flexural properties of sugar palm fibre reinforced epoxy composites is presented in this paper. The composites were reinforced with 10% weight fraction of the fibres. The fibres were treated using sodium hydroxide (NaOH) with 0.25 M and 0.5 M concentration solution for 1 hour, 4 hours and 8 hours soaking time. The purpose of treating fibres with alkali was to enhance the interfacial bonding between matrix and fibre surfaces. The maximum flexural strength occurred at 0.25 M NaOH solution with 1 hour of soaking time, i.e 96.71 MPa, improving by 24.41% from untreated fibre composite. But, the maximum flexural modulus took place at 0.5 M NaOH solution with 4 hours soaking time, i.e. 6948 MPa, improving by 148% from untreated composite.

Fused-deposition modeling (FDM), one of the additive manufacturing (AM) technologies, is an advanced digital manufacturing technique that produces parts by heating, extruding and depositing filaments of thermoplastic polymers. The properties of FDM-produced parts apparently depend on the processing parameters. These processing parameters have conflicting advantages that need to be investigated. This article focuses on an investigation into the effect of these parameters on the flexural properties of FDM-produced parts. The investigation is carried out on high-performance ULTEM 9085 material, as this material is relatively new and has potential application in the aerospace, military and automotive industries. Five parameters: air gap, raster width, raster angle, contour number, and contour width, with a full factorial design of the experiment, are considered for the investigation. From the investigation, it is revealed that raster angle and raster width have the greatest effect on the flexural properties of the material. The optimal levels of the process parameters achieved are: air gap of 0.000 mm, raster width of 0.7814 mm, raster angle of 0°, contour number of 5, and contour width of 0.7814 mm, leading to a flexural strength of 127 MPa, a flexural modulus of 2400 MPa, and 0.081 flexural strain.