High fracture resistance of carbon fiber treated by electron beam irradiation

A crack reduction by electron beam (EB) irradiation treatment for carbon fiber, used without the traditional method of accompanying heat, was developed to modify the mechanical properties at lower temperature. The EB treatment improved the resistance to fracture. Namely, the maximum ratio of fractured samples (R-max(f)) and the minimum bending strain on fracture ((min)epsilon (f)) were defined as simple indicators of fracture resistance and became smaller by the EB treatment. Furthermore, a critical density of dangling bonds for a fracture was suggested and determined for carbon fiber treated by EB irradiation. The EB irradiation to reduce cracking and the determination of the critical density of dangling bonds are new concepts that can be broadly applied in the fields of aerospace and rapid-transit production engineering.