Repeatable repairability and localised toughening of glass fibre/epoxy laminates using thermoplastic polyethylene oxide nanofibre mats and films

IF 12.7 1区材料科学 Q1 ENGINEERING, MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Composites Part B: Engineering Pub Date : 2025-07-10 DOI:10.1016/j.compositesb.2025.112803

Rongmin Zhang , Xianming Hu , Qi Chen , Xin Feng , Miao Miao , Musu Ren , Jinliang Sun , Yunfu Ou , Yinping Tao

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Fibre-reinforced epoxy laminates often exhibit weak out-of-plane properties, making them susceptible to delamination, while traditional thermoset epoxy resins, being highly cross-linked, cannot re-bond cracks. Thermoplastic interleaving is promising for both interlaminar fracture toughening and composite repairing. In this study, polyethylene oxide (PEO) was selected due to its excellent compatibility with epoxy and low melting temperature (70 °C). Glass fibre reinforced composites (GFRP) interleaved with PEO electrospun nanofibre mats (GFRP/PEO-M) and hot-pressed film (GFRP/PEO-F) were fabricated. The effect of PEO morphologies and loadings on the interlaminar fracture toughness and repairing efficiencies under Mode I loadings was investigated and analysed on the basis of their fractography and from a fracture mechanism perspective. GFRP/PEO-M exhibited much better toughening performance, perhaps primarily due to the formation of semi-interpenetrating networks (semi-IPNs) of epoxy and PEO after curing. In this system, PEO chains locally toughened the epoxy network at the molecular level through shear yielding upon loading. In contrast, the major toughening mechanism in GFRP/PEO-F was the crack-bridging effect, with substantial plastic deformation occurring between the layers. Additionally, with only 2.04 wt% (270-μm-thick) PEO film incorporated in the interlayer region, a notable repairing efficiency of 47.8 % was achieved, and the Mode I interlaminar fracture toughness (G_IC) after 10 repair cycles was 41 % higher than the G_IC of the reference sample without interleaf. This study successfully demonstrates a significant improvement in the interlaminar fracture toughness of GFRP with favourable repeatable repairability functionality.

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使用热塑性聚乙烯氧化物纳米纤维垫和薄膜的玻璃纤维/环氧层压板的可重复修复性和局部增韧

纤维增强环氧层压板通常表现出较弱的面外性能，使其容易分层，而传统的热固性环氧树脂由于高度交联，不能重新粘合裂缝。热塑性交织在层间断口增韧和复合材料修复方面都具有广阔的应用前景。在本研究中，聚乙烯氧化物（PEO）由于其与环氧树脂的良好相容性和较低的熔融温度（70℃）而被选择。制备了PEO静电纺丝纳米纤维垫（GFRP/PEO- m）与热压薄膜（GFRP/PEO- f）交织的玻璃纤维增强复合材料（GFRP）。从断口形貌和断裂机理角度出发，研究和分析了PEO形貌和载荷对I型载荷下层间断裂韧性和修复效率的影响。GFRP/PEO- m表现出更好的增韧性能，可能主要是由于固化后环氧树脂与PEO形成了半互穿网络（semi- ipn）。在该体系中，PEO链在加载时通过剪切屈服在分子水平上局部增韧环氧树脂网络。相比之下，GFRP/PEO-F的主要增韧机制是裂纹桥接效应，层间发生大量塑性变形。此外，在层间区域仅掺入2.04 wt% （270 μm厚）的PEO膜，修复效率达到47.8%，10次修复循环后的I型层间断裂韧性（GIC）比未掺入夹层的参考样品的GIC高41%。该研究成功地证明了GFRP具有良好的可重复修复功能的层间断裂韧性的显著改善。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Composites Part B: Engineering 工程技术-材料科学：复合

CiteScore

24.40

自引率

11.50%

发文量

784

审稿时长

21 days

期刊介绍： Composites Part B: Engineering is a journal that publishes impactful research of high quality on composite materials. This research is supported by fundamental mechanics and materials science and engineering approaches. The targeted research can cover a wide range of length scales, ranging from nano to micro and meso, and even to the full product and structure level. The journal specifically focuses on engineering applications that involve high performance composites. These applications can range from low volume and high cost to high volume and low cost composite development. The main goal of the journal is to provide a platform for the prompt publication of original and high quality research. The emphasis is on design, development, modeling, validation, and manufacturing of engineering details and concepts. The journal welcomes both basic research papers and proposals for review articles. Authors are encouraged to address challenges across various application areas. These areas include, but are not limited to, aerospace, automotive, and other surface transportation. The journal also covers energy-related applications, with a focus on renewable energy. Other application areas include infrastructure, off-shore and maritime projects, health care technology, and recreational products.