EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON PEK-C MODIFIED EPOXIES AND THE CARBON FIBER COMPOSITES FOR AEROSPACE APPLICATION

Epoxy(EP) resins have been widely used astraditional materials in aerospace applications dueto their relatively high stiffness and strength,goodthermal stability,excellent adhesion,and goodprocessabilities,particularly because thatthey havebeen toughened by incorporating rubber particlesand thermoplastic(TP) component into the resinsto form multi- component systems1～ 5] .Comparedwith rubber modifiers,thermoplastics can improvethe epoxy toughness without sacrificing the ther-mal stabilities …

EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON PEK-C MODIFIED EPOXIES AND THE CARBON FIBER COMPOSITES FOR AEROSPACE APPLICATION

The morphological structure of various epoxies toughened with a special amorphous thermoplastic PEK-C and their carbon fiber composites were studied by using SEM. For both cases, phase separation and inversion took place to form fine epoxy-rich globules dispersing in the PEK-C matrix, in which the epoxy-rich phase had the absolutely higher volume fraction. The phase structure and the interfacial properties were also studied by means of FTIR, DSC, and DMTA as well. An accompanying mechanical determination revealed that an improved toughness was achieved both in the blend casts and in the carbon fiber composites. A composite structural model was hence suggested.