Effects of the temperature and strain rate on mechanical properties of plain-woven carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic composites

ObjectiveA study was conducted to investigate the effects of temperature and strain rate on the mechanical properties of woven carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites, and to clarify the action laws of the two factors on the tensile and shear properties as well as the failure modes of the material.MethodsTaking the woven carbon fiber-reinforced polypropylene laminates prepared by the hot-press molding process as the research object, two types of tests were designed and carried out: one was the quasi-static test under different temperature conditions, and the other was the dynamic test under normal temperature environment. The mechanical property data of the material were obtained through systematic testing and analysis.ResultsIt was found from the study that the tensile elastic modulus, tensile strength and shear modulus of the material showed a consistent variation trend: they decreased gradually with the increase of temperature and increased gradually with the increase of strain rate. However, the shear strength exhibited a special difference: the quasi-static shear strength was significantly higher than the dynamic shear strength. This phenomenon was closely related to the post-yield hardening behavior caused by fiber rotation. In addition, significant effects of temperature and strain rate on the failure modes of both tensile specimens and shear specimens were observed.