Influence of water absorption on the mechanical properties of discontinuous carbon fiber reinforced polyamide 6

Abstract

Carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastics (CFRTP) have been developed to realize excellent formability and mechanical properties. Specifically, discontinuous CFRTP (DCFRTP) are promising candidates for decreasing production cost and for application to mass production. Polyamide 6 (PA6) is a promising matrix for CFRTP due to its good adhesion properties with carbon fibers (CFs). However, the degradation of the mechanical properties of CFRTP due to the hygroscopic properties of PA6 is an area of concern. Thus, an investigation of the effects of water absorption on the mechanical properties of discontinuous CF reinforced PA6 is necessary. Additionally, a theoretical prediction of the degradation in mechanical properties is useful to clarify the effect of the absorbed water. Therefore, in this study, the influence of water absorption on the mechanical properties of CFRTP was investigated by measuring the mechanical properties using a three-point bending test. In addition, the flexural modulus was calculated using the Timoshenko beam equation to predict the degradation due to water absorption.

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