Moulding of carbon fiber reinforced polycarbonate using unidirectional tapes

Carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) are attracting attention in the automotive industry due to their light weight. Thermoset plastics like epoxies are mainly used as matrices of CFRP in that industry. The curing time of the thermosetting resin is long thus leading to poor productivity. Within thermoplastic resins, polycarbonate (PC) is excellent for its impact properties; consequently, it is expected to be used as the matrix of composite materials for automotive structures. Moreover, in order to obtain outstanding strength, the application of continuous fibers as reinforcement is anticipated. However, large-scale equipment is needed and the work of press load is required in order to impregnate PC into continuous fibers. Recently, unidirectional (UD) tapes of CF/PC in which the PC matrix was impregnated into a CF bundle have been developed. In this study, carbon fiber reinforced polycarbonate (CF/PC) was moulded using UD tapes and the practicality of UD tape was examined by studying its mechanical properties aiming at shortening the moulding time.