G. Ronconi , A. Behrens , R. Hirschberg , M. Zanelli , N. Graupner , J. Müssig , P. Russo , F. Mollica , V. Mazzanti
{"title":"Mechanical characterisation and interfacial analysis of continuous flax fibre reinforced unidirectional green composites using filament winding","authors":"G. Ronconi , A. Behrens , R. Hirschberg , M. Zanelli , N. Graupner , J. Müssig , P. Russo , F. Mollica , V. Mazzanti","doi":"10.1016/j.compositesa.2025.108940","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.compositesa.2025.108940","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Plant fibre-reinforced biobased thermoplastics (also known as “green composites”) are interesting materials from the point of view of eco-sustainability but still have problems of lower mechanical properties and difficult processability when compared to other more common composite materials, such as continuous glass or carbon fibre-reinforced thermosets. In this paper, unidirectional green composite laminae made of flax fibre-reinforced polylactide (PLA) were obtained through film stacking together with a filament winding process followed by a hot compaction phase. This technique permits to apply pretensioning on the flax rovings before hot compaction to limit possible misalignment. Interfacial properties measurement, analysis of fracture surfaces and a complete tensile mechanical characterisation were performed to evaluate the effectiveness of this procedure. The results showed that a structural composite in the longitudinal direction (∼170 MPa strength) can be obtained that has a low void content, an adequate fibre–matrix macro-impregnation and a limited dispersion in mechanical properties due to the limited fibre misalignment.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":282,"journal":{"name":"Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing","volume":"194 ","pages":"Article 108940"},"PeriodicalIF":8.1,"publicationDate":"2025-04-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143829123","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The formation mechanism of nearly taper-free holes by femtosecond laser rotary drilling of SiCf/SiC composites","authors":"Feng Yang, Yan Bao, Zhaoji Li, Xiaodong Fan, Guangyi Ma, Zhigang Dong","doi":"10.1016/j.compositesa.2025.108945","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.compositesa.2025.108945","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>A two-step femtosecond laser rotary drilling (FLRD) method is proposed to address the difficulty combining the quality and processing efficiency of small holes in SiC<sub>f</sub>/SiC composites. The laser fluence line and mesh analysis methods are proposed to grasp the distribution of laser fluence in the drilling and finishing process, reveal the formation mechanism of the tapered blind hole profile, and elucidate the evolution of the small hole profile from tapered blind hole to tapered base-hole and then to nearly taper-free hole. In 50 s, a hole with a diameter of 300 µm, an aspect ratio of 10, and a taper of 0.03° was achieved.The hole profiles at different feed depths were consistent with the predicted results, which verified the validity of the hole profile model. The hole profile formation mechanism of FLRD is revealed, which provides theoretical support for the processing of cooling holes in SiC<sub>f</sub>/SiC composites.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":282,"journal":{"name":"Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing","volume":"195 ","pages":"Article 108945"},"PeriodicalIF":8.1,"publicationDate":"2025-04-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143864789","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Effect of specimen surface area on through-thickness electrical conductivity in unidirectional CFRP laminates with interlayers","authors":"Keiji Ogi , Ryotaro Ozaki , Koichi Mizukami","doi":"10.1016/j.compositesa.2025.108943","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.compositesa.2025.108943","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The through-thickness electrical conductivities of unidirectional carbon fiber-reinforced plastic laminates with interlayers were measured for varying surface areas, and the resulting variability was systematically examined. One large laminate specimen was cut into smaller pieces (divided in half up to 8 times), and the conductivity of each specimen was sequentially measured to examine spatial variations. The variability of the through-thickness conductivity increased with decreasing specimen surface area because of the inhomogeneous distribution of conductive paths in the interlayer, whereas the average conductivity remained approximately constant, except for very small specimens. A probability density function was used to model the conductivity variability with specimen surface area, showing a shift from a log-normal distribution to a normal distribution as surface area increased. In addition, the effect of the number of layers on through-thickness conductivity was discussed.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":282,"journal":{"name":"Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing","volume":"194 ","pages":"Article 108943"},"PeriodicalIF":8.1,"publicationDate":"2025-04-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143829122","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A data-driven approach to identify the optimal sub-laminates for homogeneity design under the concept of double-double composites","authors":"Cheng Qiu , Hongwei Song , Jinglei Yang","doi":"10.1016/j.compositesa.2025.108897","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.compositesa.2025.108897","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper presents the design of the sub-laminate under the concept of the double-double composite using the data-driven method. As the key advantage of the double-double composites is the reduced repeat number of sub-laminates necessary to achieve homogeneity, it is therefore crucial to determine the best pattern of sub-laminates which ensures the optimal lightweight design with the minimum thickness. In the data-driven framework, first, a generative neural network model was built for generating the sub-laminates fitting in the scope of the homogeneous criterion. Then, a symbolic regression model was built for quantitatively finding the hidden layup patterns in the dataset of these sub-laminates. It is found that the form of double-double and triple-double stands out in the vast design space of all the possible layup sequences. The 4-layer sub-laminate of <span><math><mrow><mo>[</mo><mi>θ</mi><mo>/</mo><mo>−</mo><mi>β</mi><mo>/</mo><mi>β</mi><mo>/</mo><mo>−</mo><mi>θ</mi><mo>]</mo></mrow></math></span> and 6-layer sub-laminate of <span><math><mrow><mo>[</mo><mi>θ</mi><mo>/</mo><mo>−</mo><mi>β</mi><mo>/</mo><mo>−</mo><mi>γ</mi><mo>/</mo><mo>+</mo><mi>γ</mi><mo>/</mo><mo>+</mo><mi>β</mi><mo>/</mo><mo>−</mo><mi>θ</mi><mo>]</mo></mrow></math></span> are most recommended as they meet the homogeneous criterion with less thickness and offer larger design space of mechanical properties. The established data-driven framework can be extended to other scenarios especially in finding the common design rules of laminates.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":282,"journal":{"name":"Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing","volume":"195 ","pages":"Article 108897"},"PeriodicalIF":8.1,"publicationDate":"2025-04-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143843545","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Characterisation of strain localisation and crack evolution of Cf/SiC-SiC composites by SEM-DIC method","authors":"Kunjie Wang, Chenghai Xu, Bo Gao, Songhe Meng","doi":"10.1016/j.compositesa.2025.108936","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.compositesa.2025.108936","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In thermo-mechanical-oxidative coupling service environments, stress-induced microscale damage in ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) governs diffusion kinetics of oxidising media, accelerating degradation of mechanical properties. Therefore, the quantification of microscale damage is a core issue in revealing damage mechanisms. In this study, a low-cost, highly uniform submicron speckle pattern was prepared on the surface of silicon carbide-coated carbon fibre-reinforced silicon carbide matrix (C<sub>f</sub>/SiC-SiC) composites and the strain localisation and crack evolution were accurately characterised using scanning electron microscopy combined with digital image correlation. For the first time, this study completely tracked and quantified the dynamic damage evolution process of C<sub>f</sub>/SiC-SiC composites at the microscale, including key mechanisms such as strain localisation, interfacial debonding, matrix cracking, fibre slip, and macroscopic failure, further verifying the key contribution of interfacial slip to composite toughening. The experimental results revealed the interaction dynamics of the multicrack system. Further research found that the initial crack widths of the SiC coating follow a log-normal distribution, while the evolution of crack density under tensile load exhibits a strain threshold effect. The crack opening displacement (COD) of the coating has a ‘stress memory’ effect. These findings contribute to deeper understanding of the synergistic effect of stress and oxidation and provide a new perspective for studying the microscale and mesoscale damage behaviour of CMCs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":282,"journal":{"name":"Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing","volume":"194 ","pages":"Article 108936"},"PeriodicalIF":8.1,"publicationDate":"2025-04-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143817128","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Lu Liu , Huiming Ning , Xiaopeng Wu , Tao Lu , Zhaohu Ding , Ning Hu , Libin Zhao , Xinyu Qi
{"title":"Enhancing connection strength and repair efficiency in stainless steel −CFRP joints via autonomous temperature-regulated vitrimer composite films","authors":"Lu Liu , Huiming Ning , Xiaopeng Wu , Tao Lu , Zhaohu Ding , Ning Hu , Libin Zhao , Xinyu Qi","doi":"10.1016/j.compositesa.2025.108935","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.compositesa.2025.108935","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Stainless steel and carbon fiber reinforced polymer hybrid structures demand precise temperature regulation during resistance welding. This study develops a self-regulating heating unit using a sandwich Vitrimer composite film. The upper and lower layers incorporate multi-walled carbon nanotubes with negative temperature coefficients for rapid heating, while the middle layer utilizes vapor-grown carbon fibers exhibiting positive temperature coefficients to autonomously stabilize temperatures. By optimizing layer thickness ratios, the welded joint strength increases by 90.3% and 253.5% respectively compared to conventional methods using Vitrimer resin and commercial adhesives. Thicker temperature-control layers enhance fracture resistance via nanofiller pull-out mechanisms, whereas balanced heating-layer thickness promotes resin flow and avoids thermal degradation. The system enables electrothermal joint repair with 21.5% higher efficiency than hot pressing, facilitated by dynamic Vitrimer network reorganization. This design achieves autonomous temperature regulation, multi-cycle repairability, and mechanical robustness, offering a sustainable solution for lightweight hybrid structures requiring adaptive welding processes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":282,"journal":{"name":"Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing","volume":"194 ","pages":"Article 108935"},"PeriodicalIF":8.1,"publicationDate":"2025-04-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143834838","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Development and application of superhydrophobic coatings with high thermal conductivity and self-healing properties: Synergistically enhancing condensation heat transfer through surface modification","authors":"Wei He , Hongru Shang , Yongna Cao , Yanling Yu","doi":"10.1016/j.compositesa.2025.108934","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.compositesa.2025.108934","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Current superhydrophobic coatings suffer from low thermal conductivity (TC), complex processes, and irreparability, limiting their effectiveness in condensation heat transfer for steam energy recovery, especially with low-grade steam. This study focuses on surface modification to enhance condensation heat transfer and develops superhydrophobic coatings with high TC and self-healing properties for practical applications. We investigated the synergistic effects, and the mechanisms of damage and self-healing processes. By optimizing the formula, we improved the hydrophobicity, TC, and mechanical strength. The “brick-and-mortar” coating was created by the self-assembly of SiO<sub>2</sub> and graphene, the hybrid curing of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), and the cross-linking with silane coupling agent. It achieved a water contact angle (CA) of 162.7 ± 2.1°, hardness (ISO 4H), adhesion (ISO Level 1 or ASTM 4B). It exhibited stable superhydrophobicity under mechanical and chemical damage, maintaining dropwise condensation for at least 90 days even after damage. The SiO<sub>2</sub>@PDMS structure endows the coating with self-healing properties under light/thermal treatment. Its |Z|<sub>0.1 Hz</sub> remained at 1.3 × 10^10 Ω cm<sup>2</sup> after 7 days in the 3.5 wt% NaCl solution. Applied to stainless steel, the coating increased heat conduction by 45.4 % and the heat transfer coefficient for low-grade heat by up to 142.6 %, with a 5:4 contribution from superhydrophobicity and high TC. The outstanding TC, low cost, and self-healing properties of this superhydrophobic coating give it broad application prospects in low-grade steam recovery.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":282,"journal":{"name":"Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing","volume":"194 ","pages":"Article 108934"},"PeriodicalIF":8.1,"publicationDate":"2025-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143834839","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Tao Yu , Jianjun Xu , Jianjun Chen , Jianxin Liu , Yanzi Gao
{"title":"Balance working temperature and viewing angle properties in polymer dispersed liquid crystal film via SiO2","authors":"Tao Yu , Jianjun Xu , Jianjun Chen , Jianxin Liu , Yanzi Gao","doi":"10.1016/j.compositesa.2025.108937","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.compositesa.2025.108937","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The application of polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) film has been significantly hindered due to its unsatisfactory contrast ratio (<em>CR</em>) in high-temperature environments, delayed response speed in low-temperature conditions, and suboptimal off-axis viewing angles. To address these issues, nano-particle SiO<sub>2</sub> with a similar refractive index to polymer was introduced into the film, and then the electro-optical properties and viewing angle characteristics of PDLC films with different contents of SiO<sub>2</sub> at 100 °C and −30 °C were analyzed. When the doping amount of SiO<sub>2</sub> is 1.5 wt% of the polymer component, the contrast ratio of PDLC films at 100 °C is increased to 16, which is 60 % higher than that of undoped SiO<sub>2</sub> films. At −30 °C, the saturation voltage is 59 V (2.95 V/μm), and the rise time and decay time are 0.35 s and 2.5 s, respectively, slightly higher than the film without doping SiO<sub>2</sub>. The film also maintained a good viewing angle, with <em>H<sub>on</sub></em> < 15 % at 45° and <em>T<sub>on</sub></em> > 60 % at 60°. Balancing the film’s viewing angle and working temperature is anticipated to enhance its applicability for outdoor smart windows.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":282,"journal":{"name":"Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing","volume":"194 ","pages":"Article 108937"},"PeriodicalIF":8.1,"publicationDate":"2025-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143808147","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Chengzhi Qin , Shengtao Dai , Wei Wang , Jintang Duan , Fei Yan , Liu Liu
{"title":"Construction of a double-crosslinked interphase to optimize the interfacial properties of carbon fiber-reinforced polyether ether ketone composites","authors":"Chengzhi Qin , Shengtao Dai , Wei Wang , Jintang Duan , Fei Yan , Liu Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.compositesa.2025.108939","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.compositesa.2025.108939","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>To address the insufficient interfacial bonding of carbon fiber/polyether ether ketone (CF/PEEK) composites, a strategy combining the diazotization reaction and sizing treatment was meticulously designed to achieve a significant synergistic enhancement. Specifically, cyano groups were grafted onto the CF surface, and self-catalyzed crosslinkable hydroxy-terminated polyaryl ether nitrile ketone (PENK-OH) sizing agent was prepared. The hydroxyl group acts as an end-capping agent for the sizing agent, considerably accelerating the rate of cyano crosslinking and effectively increasing the thermal stability of the sizing agent. Consequently, strong interactions were established between cyano-modified CF and the PENK-OH sizing agent via double crosslinking reactions. Compared to untreated-CF/PEEK composites, the CF-CN-1.0%/PEEK composites exhibited increases of 45.4%, 43.5% and 35.9% in the maximum interfacial shear strength, interlaminar shear strength and flexural strength, respectively. The strong synergistic interfacial interactions promoted by the chemical bonds between the different components provide an effective method for producing high-performance CF/PEEK composites.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":282,"journal":{"name":"Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing","volume":"194 ","pages":"Article 108939"},"PeriodicalIF":8.1,"publicationDate":"2025-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143823582","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yuyang Ji , Congcong Luan , Xinhua Yao , Zequan Ding , Chengcheng Niu , Ningguo Dong , Lingyu Cheng , Kai Zhao , Jianzhong Fu
{"title":"Real-time in-service structural health monitoring method based on self-sensing of CF/PEEK prepreg in automated fiber placement (AFP) manufactured parts","authors":"Yuyang Ji , Congcong Luan , Xinhua Yao , Zequan Ding , Chengcheng Niu , Ningguo Dong , Lingyu Cheng , Kai Zhao , Jianzhong Fu","doi":"10.1016/j.compositesa.2025.108925","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.compositesa.2025.108925","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Real-time in-service structural health monitoring (SHM) of AFP-manufactured parts is essential for preventing catastrophic structural failures. The self-sensing performance and damage-monitoring capabilities of CF/PEEK tape were evaluated, revealing a bilinear sensing curve with sensitivity coefficients of 8.667 and 4.526. Building on these findings, a real-time SHM method based on the in-layer self-sensing capabilities of key tapes was proposed, which enabled the monitoring of multiple key positions under various working conditions. Furthermore, aiming at the weak interlayer quality of AFP-manufactured parts, the method’s ability to detect delamination and other failure modes was validated by monitoring through-thickness resistance. Finally, two prospective cases were conducted to verify the effectiveness of the method in monitoring the working state during the internal pressure expansion process and the potential of identifying the load position based on the sensing tape array. This method provides a cost-effective way for real-time monitoring the in-service working state of AFP-manufactured parts.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":282,"journal":{"name":"Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing","volume":"194 ","pages":"Article 108925"},"PeriodicalIF":8.1,"publicationDate":"2025-04-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143799711","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}