Effect of moisture on the measured tensile strength of polyacrylonitrile carbon fibers

The aim of this work is to investigate the effect of moisture on the measured tensile strength of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) carbon fibers immersed in epoxy matrix under various moisture conditions. Tensile tests are carried out for the specimens, and a sharp decrease in measured tensile strength of the carbon fibers/epoxy system A immersed under high-moisture conditions is observed. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) is used to observe the effect of moisture on the surface structures of specimens. The results show that the decrease in the measured tensile strength is attributed to the microvoids of epoxy matrix formed in the preparation of the specimens. And the formation of microvoids in carbon fiber/epoxy matrix depends on viscosity change and curing condition of epoxy system. During the early stage of epoxy curing, both the solvent and absorbed water in the epoxy system escape from the immersed carbon fibers and form channels in the epoxy matrix. Once the viscosity of the epoxy system increased rapidly at a low curing temperature, the channels cannot be filled quickly by the surrounding resin and form microvoids finally. In order to verify these results, epoxy system B with a high curing temperature is chosen to prepare the specimens for tensile tests, and SEM images demonstrate that there are no microvoids that can be observed on the surfaces of specimens, even at such a high-moisture condition. And the measured tensile strengths remain unaffected in both low and high-moisture conditions. These results indicate that epoxy system with a high curing temperature is suitable for preparing the specimens for tensile tests regardless of moisture condition in the surrounding air.