Mechanical Characterisation of Pneumatically-Spliced Carbon Fibre Yarns as Reinforcements for Polymer Composites

James R. Davidson; James A. Quinn; Claudia Rothmann; Ankur Bajpai; Colin Robert; Conchúr M. Ó Brádaigh; Edward D. McCarthy

doi:10.1016/j.matdes.2021.110305

Mechanical Characterisation of Pneumatically-Spliced Carbon Fibre Yarns as Reinforcements for Polymer Composites

James R. Davidson^*, James A. Quinn, Claudia Rothmann, Ankur Bajpai, Colin Robert, Conchúr M. Ó Brádaigh, Edward D. McCarthy

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

An investigation into the mechanical response of pneumatically-spliced carbon fibre yarns as a potential reinforcing material for polymer composites is presented. High strength mechanical connections between carbon fibre yarns are produced by joining short discontinuous tows into longer lengths via fibre entanglement. The effect of altering the number of high-pressure air pulses fired by a commercially available (Airbond 701H) splicing machine, to form the tow-tow connection, on load bearing capacity and linear stiffness is first evaluated on splices between virgin T700SC-24K- 50C carbon fibre tows. The best performing spliced configuration is subsequently utilised in reinforcing unidirectional epoxy laminates, which are mechanically characterised, and their properties compared to those of various continuous fibre and chopped strand mat panels. Results presented in this study demonstrate that pneumatic splicing provides a high strength and sustainable solution for reinforcing polymers with discontinuous (approx. >50mm in length) virgin, off-cut or waste carbon
fibre yarns. It is speculated that with further research, quasi-continuous yarns
remanufactured by splicing waste fibres could provide a novel material for weaving, braiding, non-crimp fabrics, or use in 3D printing applications.

Original language	English
Article number	110305
Journal	Materials & Design
Volume	213
Early online date	7 Dec 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2021.110305
Publication status	Published - Jan 2022

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

Carbon fibres
Mechanical testing
Pneumatic splicing
Waste

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Splicing_Paper_Accepted_ManuscriptAccepted author manuscript, 12.3 MB

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264127521008601Licence: Creative Commons: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC BY-NC-ND)

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title = "Mechanical Characterisation of Pneumatically-Spliced Carbon Fibre Yarns as Reinforcements for Polymer Composites",

abstract = "An investigation into the mechanical response of pneumatically-spliced carbon fibre yarns as a potential reinforcing material for polymer composites is presented. High strength mechanical connections between carbon fibre yarns are produced by joining short discontinuous tows into longer lengths via fibre entanglement. The effect of altering the number of high-pressure air pulses fired by a commercially available (Airbond 701H) splicing machine, to form the tow-tow connection, on load bearing capacity and linear stiffness is first evaluated on splices between virgin T700SC-24K- 50C carbon fibre tows. The best performing spliced configuration is subsequently utilised in reinforcing unidirectional epoxy laminates, which are mechanically characterised, and their properties compared to those of various continuous fibre and chopped strand mat panels. Results presented in this study demonstrate that pneumatic splicing provides a high strength and sustainable solution for reinforcing polymers with discontinuous (approx. >50mm in length) virgin, off-cut or waste carbonfibre yarns. It is speculated that with further research, quasi-continuous yarnsremanufactured by splicing waste fibres could provide a novel material for weaving, braiding, non-crimp fabrics, or use in 3D printing applications.",

keywords = "Carbon fibres, Mechanical testing, Pneumatic splicing, Waste",

author = "Davidson, {James R.} and Quinn, {James A.} and Claudia Rothmann and Ankur Bajpai and Colin Robert and {{\'O} Br{\'a}daigh}, {Conch{\'u}r M.} and McCarthy, {Edward D.}",

note = "Funding Information: The support of MacTaggart, Scott & Co. Ltd. and EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council), under the National Productivity Investment Fund (NPIF), are gratefully acknowledged. The authors would like to thank: Mr. Lee Baines and Dr. Terry McGrail for their guidance and feedback; Prof. Luke Bisby and Mr. Michal Krajcovic for their providing access to, and guidance for, the FLIR infrared camera. The invaluable advice from technical staff member, Mr. Edward Monteith has also been greatly appreciated throughout this work. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021",

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AU - Quinn, James A.

AU - Rothmann, Claudia

AU - Bajpai, Ankur

AU - Robert, Colin

AU - Ó Brádaigh, Conchúr M.

AU - McCarthy, Edward D.

N1 - Funding Information: The support of MacTaggart, Scott & Co. Ltd. and EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council), under the National Productivity Investment Fund (NPIF), are gratefully acknowledged. The authors would like to thank: Mr. Lee Baines and Dr. Terry McGrail for their guidance and feedback; Prof. Luke Bisby and Mr. Michal Krajcovic for their providing access to, and guidance for, the FLIR infrared camera. The invaluable advice from technical staff member, Mr. Edward Monteith has also been greatly appreciated throughout this work. Publisher Copyright: © 2021

PY - 2022/1

Y1 - 2022/1

N2 - An investigation into the mechanical response of pneumatically-spliced carbon fibre yarns as a potential reinforcing material for polymer composites is presented. High strength mechanical connections between carbon fibre yarns are produced by joining short discontinuous tows into longer lengths via fibre entanglement. The effect of altering the number of high-pressure air pulses fired by a commercially available (Airbond 701H) splicing machine, to form the tow-tow connection, on load bearing capacity and linear stiffness is first evaluated on splices between virgin T700SC-24K- 50C carbon fibre tows. The best performing spliced configuration is subsequently utilised in reinforcing unidirectional epoxy laminates, which are mechanically characterised, and their properties compared to those of various continuous fibre and chopped strand mat panels. Results presented in this study demonstrate that pneumatic splicing provides a high strength and sustainable solution for reinforcing polymers with discontinuous (approx. >50mm in length) virgin, off-cut or waste carbonfibre yarns. It is speculated that with further research, quasi-continuous yarnsremanufactured by splicing waste fibres could provide a novel material for weaving, braiding, non-crimp fabrics, or use in 3D printing applications.

AB - An investigation into the mechanical response of pneumatically-spliced carbon fibre yarns as a potential reinforcing material for polymer composites is presented. High strength mechanical connections between carbon fibre yarns are produced by joining short discontinuous tows into longer lengths via fibre entanglement. The effect of altering the number of high-pressure air pulses fired by a commercially available (Airbond 701H) splicing machine, to form the tow-tow connection, on load bearing capacity and linear stiffness is first evaluated on splices between virgin T700SC-24K- 50C carbon fibre tows. The best performing spliced configuration is subsequently utilised in reinforcing unidirectional epoxy laminates, which are mechanically characterised, and their properties compared to those of various continuous fibre and chopped strand mat panels. Results presented in this study demonstrate that pneumatic splicing provides a high strength and sustainable solution for reinforcing polymers with discontinuous (approx. >50mm in length) virgin, off-cut or waste carbonfibre yarns. It is speculated that with further research, quasi-continuous yarnsremanufactured by splicing waste fibres could provide a novel material for weaving, braiding, non-crimp fabrics, or use in 3D printing applications.

KW - Carbon fibres

KW - Mechanical testing

KW - Pneumatic splicing

KW - Waste

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DO - 10.1016/j.matdes.2021.110305

M3 - Article

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SN - 0261-3069

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M1 - 110305

ER -

Mechanical Characterisation of Pneumatically-Spliced Carbon Fibre Yarns as Reinforcements for Polymer Composites

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