Reprocessing of Carbon Fibre/PEEK Laminates

Abstract

In this work, the reprocessing possibilities of fibre reinforced thermoplastics are analysed. The material utilized is a carbon fibre reinforced poly ether- ether-ketone (PEEK) unidirectional preimpregnated system aimed at high performance applications.

The preimpregnate is pressed in a heatedflat plates press in order to obtain aflat laminate. After this process, the laminate is heated and moulded in a cool curved mould. This process is repeated several times in order to measure loss of properties in the material. After the reprocessing, the mechanical properties and damage caused are studied. The study shows that the properties of carbon/PEEK laminates after the reprocessing are good, although slight degradation is observed. The influences of temperature and mould curvature angle are also measured. A microscopic study was realized by SEM.