Influence of fiber orientation on solid particle erosion of uni/multidirectional carbon fiber/glass fiber reinforced epoxy composites

This article describes the development of unidirectional and multidirectional laminated composites consisting of thermoplastic epoxy resin reinforced with glass/carbon fiber, and studies their solid particle erosion behavior under different operating conditions. The erosion rates of the unidirectional carbon fiber/epoxy composites [0 degrees, 30 degrees, 45 degrees, 60 degrees, 90 degrees] and multidirectional glass fiber/epoxy composites ([0 degrees/-90 degrees/0 degrees], [30 degrees/-60 degrees/30 degrees], [45 degrees/-45 degrees/45 degrees], [60 degrees/-30 degrees/60 degrees], [90 degrees/0 degrees/90 degrees]) were especially scrutinized based on their respective fiber orientations. In addition; the test specimens were evaluated at three different impingement angles of 30 degrees, 60 degrees, and 90 degrees with an impact velocity of 34m/s. Slightly rounded and irregular Al2O3 particles with an average diameter of 400 mu m were used. An optimal fiber orientation combination was determined, which led to minimization of the erosion rate. Moreover, the variation of erosion rates with various laminate orientations were characterized by using X-ray diffraction patterns, 3D digital mapping method, and scanning electron microscopy.