In this thesis, a papermaking process was used to create two randomly oriented, high performance composite material systems. The primary objective of this was to discover the flexural properties of both composite systems and compare those to reported results from other studies. In addition, the process was evaluated for producing quality, randomly oriented composite panels.Thermoplastic polymers have the toughness and necessary strength to be alternatives to thermosets, but with the promise of lower cycle times and increased recyclability. The wet-lay papermaking process used in this study produces a quality, randomly oriented thermoplastic composite at low cycle times and simple production. The materials chosen represent high performance thermoplastics and carbon fibers.Short chopped carbon fiber filled Nylon 6,6 and PEEK composites were created at varying fiber volume fractions. Ten nylon based panels and five PEEK based panels were subjected to 4-point flexural testing. In several of the nylon-based panels, flexural testing was done in multiple direction to verify the in-plane isotropy of the final composite.The flexural strength performance of both systems showed promise when compared to equivalent products currently available. The flexural modulus results were less than expected and further research should be done into possibly causes. Overall, this research gives good insight into two high performance engineering composites and should aid in continued work.
Read
