Utilization of Mechanically Recycled Carbon Fibers in Vinyl Ester Composites

As we enter the twenty-first century, the aviation sector is expected to thrive as flying becomes the primary mode of transportation between states or nations. With such a demand, there is a corresponding need to manufacture aircraft components. The study focused on recycling carbon fiber composites received from the STRATA company, which were cut-off/waste material generated during the manufacture of airplane components. The cut-offs were then reduced to powder form using a standard face milling machine in three sizes (90, 150, and 250 mu m). After, the powder was utilized to fabricate vinyl ester composites with four weight percentages (10%, 20%, 30%, and 40%). The results demonstrate that the tensile strength of all composites had risen by 30.2%, 21.3%, and 17.6% for 90, 150, and 250 mu m respective with the addition of 20 wt% of reinforcement. Furthermore, subsequently decreased with the additional reinforcement for all particle sizes. The compressive strength increased by 30% from 187.5 MPa to 244 MPa with 10 wt% of recycled carbon powder composite of 90 mu m particle size. However, samples prepared with 150 mu m and 250 mu m fiber size show approximately 17% and 1% increase in the compression strength with the addition of 10wt% of recycled carbon powder. A similar trend was observed for the flexural strength with an highest increase of 9% for 90 mu m particle size with addition of 20 wt% reinforcement. Nonetheless, the SEM images revealed that the fiber-matrix bonding was weak, proved through the clean pullout fibers at the fracture surfaces.

Automated summary

The study focuses on recycling carbon fiber composites generated from aircraft component manufacturing and using them to fabricate vinyl ester composites. The results show an increase in tensile strength with the addition of reinforcement, but a decrease with further reinforcement. The compressive and flexural strength of the composites also increased, but there were weak fiber-matrix bonds as observed in the SEM images.