THERMOPLASTIC CARBON-FIBER COMPOSITES - CORRELATION BETWEEN INTERPHASE MORPHOLOGY AND DYNAMIC MECHANICAL-PROPERTIES

Three thermoplastic matrixes (ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene, medium molecular weight polypropylene and high molecular weight polypropylene) were used to produce three thermally treated carbon fibre composites. Their dynamic mechanical properties were measured: they were correlated with the morphologies of the composites in order to determine the influence of interphase trans-crystallinity and bulk crystallinity on mechanical performance. It was observed that, besides these structural parameters, the thermoplastic molecular weight also governs the final mechanical behaviour. © 1990.