In situ consolidation process-based fabrication and interlaminar modification mechanism associated with CF/PEEK multiscale nanocomposites characterized by interlaminar doping of CNTs

A novel fabrication method based on the automated fiber placement method was used for the development of multiscale thermoplastic nanocomposites to reduce the effect of interlaminar resin-rich zones. We observed that the process optimization method could be effectively used to improve the crystallinity and reduce the void content of composites. However, the method could not be used to effectively reduce the interlaminar resin-rich zone. This resulted in a low extent of improvement in the interlaminar performance. Therefore, carbon nanotube (CNT)-based paper was used to embed to the interlaminar for improving the interlaminar performance. The effect of the distribution of different CNTs in the resin on the interfacial bonding energy and the modification mechanism were analyzed using the molecular dynamics method. Experiments were performed to verify the role of CNTs in the interlayers and quantify the effect of CNT dispersion on the interlaminar performance. The results showed that the interlaminar shear strength could be enhanced by 22.7% when carbon nanopaper was doped into a specific interlayer. We also observed that the dispersion of CNTs significantly affected the interlaminar performance.

Automated summary

In this study, a novel fabrication method based on the automated fiber placement method was used to develop multiscale thermoplastic nanocomposites. The method effectively improved the crystallinity and reduced the void content of the composites, but failed to effectively reduce the interlaminar resin-rich zone. To enhance the interlaminar performance, carbon nanotube-based paper was embedded into the interlayers. Molecular dynamics analysis and experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of CNT dispersion on the interlaminar performance.