Effect of interfacial strength on erosion behavior of FRPs

Experiments were carried out to study the effect of interfacial strength between a matrix material and fibers on the solid particle erosion behavior of FRPs. The FRPs used were epoxy resins unidirectionally reinforced by carbon fibers. Although more than ten papers have been published concerning the erosion behaviors of FRPs, it has not been clarified how the interfacial strength between a matrix material and fibers affects the erosion behavior of FRPs. In the present erosion experiments, FRPs with treated fibers or untreated fibers were used as test materials to examine the effect of interfacial strength between a matrix material and fibers on the erosion rate. According to the tensile tests, the FRPs with treated fibers show higher interfacial strength between a matrix material and fibers than the FRPs with untreated fibers. The results of the erosion tests show that the FRPs with treated fibers have higher erosion resistance than the FRPs with untreated fibers due to higher interfacial strength between a matrix material and fibers.