Mechanical behavior of non-crimp fabric PEEK/C thermoplastic composites

The thermoplastic resin Poly-Ether-Ether-Ketone (PEEK) was used to develop four new NCF composite materials. They refer to two different principal concepts, while each concept was investigated for two different material modifications. The tensile and compression behavior of the newly developed NCF materials was experimentally investigated. For comparison, same tests were also performed on APC-2/AS4 reference material. Prior to the mechanical tests, the quality of the produced laminates was evaluated by means of non destructive investigation (C-Scan tests) and optical microscopy analyses to obtain defects such as delaminations, porosities, micro-cracks etc. The results of the mechanical tests were exploited to obtain the optimal NCF fabrication process; the mechanical properties of the material solution considered to be optimal compare well to the respective properties of the reference material thus providing evidence for improved cost efficiency by the production of thermoplastic composite components. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.