Effect of curing cycles using wet prepreg processing on mechanical properties

For the fabrication of polymer-based composite materials, the interpretation of an appropriate fabrication process is essential to improve the productivity and manufacturing process. In this study, the wet prepreg forming process was used to fabricate carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) and different curing cycles were demonstrated for an optimal process. To determine the range of curing temperature, a pretreatment on differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis was performed. After that, tensile and ILSS tests were adopted to investigate the mechanical properties and thermal analysis on a matrix carried out by the DSC equipment. Different volumes of the matrix residue on fractured fiber, which represent the matrix-reinforcement adhesion strength, were observed by a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Also, a void aggregation was found in high curing temperature situation due to excessive exotherm. Both the tensile strength and ILSS held a certain trend with the changing curing cycles. The highest tensile strength (469 MPa) and glass transition temperature (Tg) at 91.58${}^{\circ }$C occurred at 80${}^{\circ }$C and 12 h curing temperature and time, respectively. The result of ILSS had an almost opposite tendency of the tensile strength. A correlation between Tg and mechanical properties was observed and it can be extensively applied to optimize the manufacturing process.