JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 81

impact resistance

Thermoplastic nonwovens for
enhanced fracture toughness
Technical Fibre Products Ltd. has developed a
range of very lightweight advanced thermoplastic
nonwovens. These new materials can be used
in CFRP composites as enhancing interleaves,
significantly improving fracture toughness while
adding minimum weight to the final part.

By
ManDy cLeMent, tecHnoLogy Manager,
nigeL J. waLker, Director of tecHnoLogy,
tecHnicaL fibre ProDucts LtD (tfP)

strategies have been explored. For example, the use of additional elastomeric or thermoplastic polymers [1], the use
of rubber- modified epoxies [2], the use of thermoplastic
particles [3] and the modification of the reinforcement architecture [4] have all been reported. Each of these toughening
strategies has its own set of advantages and limitations and
it is likely that further work will continue in most of these
areas. One alternative strategy to those outlined above is
to consider the use of polymer fibre nonwoven textiles to
improve fracture toughness by employing them as carbon
fibre-reinforced plastic (CFRP) interleaves [5]. This route
has a number of advantages over earlier methods but it can
be reasoned easily that an interleave with a significant thickness may adversely affect certain mechanical properties of
the composite. As a result, the exploitation of this interleave
strategy relies on the development of very thin (lightweight)
materials with an exceptionally even distribution of thickness. Such materials can be manufactured using TFP's
unique wet-laid nonwoven process. Example application
studies, reported by Kuwata and Hogg [6, 7] and Sampson et
al. [8], demonstrating that the lightweight nonwovens act as
highly effective fracture toughness "enhancers" are discussed
below.

Manufacturing wet-laid nonwovens

R

ecent advances in the use of a unique wet-laid process
at Technical Fibre Products (TFP) have facilitated the
development of very lightweight nonwovens from advanced thermoplastic fibres, such as polyether ether ketone
(PEEK) and polyphenylene sulphide (PPS). These nonwovens can be employed in carbon fibre-reinforced plastics
(CFRP) as enhancing interleaves and it has been demonstrated that they can dramatically improve fracture toughness while adding minimum weight to the final composite
part.

The wet-laid nonwoven process, which is based on traditional paper-making methods, is well known. However, the TFP
nonwoven equipment and methods outlined here have been

Improving composite fracture toughness
Carbon fibre-reinforced epoxy laminates are widely used in
the aerospace and other advanced composite sectors due to
their mechanical, thermal and chemical resistance properties. However, the brittleness of the epoxy systems is a major
drawback and, following the commercial introduction of
epoxy resin (over fifty years ago), a variety of toughening

Fig. 1: The wet-laid nonwoven process at TFP

No103 March 2016 /

jec composites magazine 81



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016

Cover
Edito
Point of view : Lamborghini
Contents
COMPANY & BUSINESS
In brief
Acquisition
Agenda of Events
APPLICATIONS
Sports & leisure
Sustainable construction
MARKET
Global
Europe
SPECIAL JEC WORLD 2016
Conferences
End-users
Automotive
Awards
Basalt
Engineering
Performing
Strategy
RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
Joining
Testing
Impact resistance
TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATIONS
Wind
Software
Epoxy
Repair
Thermoplastic
Sandwich
Index
In the world
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - Cover
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 2
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - Edito
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - Point of view : Lamborghini
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 5
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - Contents
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 7
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 8
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 9
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - Ad1
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - Ad2
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - Ad3
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - Ad4
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - In brief
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 11
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 12
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - Acquisition
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - Agenda of Events
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 15
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 16
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - Sports & leisure
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 18
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - Sustainable construction
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 20
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - Global
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 22
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 23
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - Europe
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 25
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 26
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - SPECIAL JEC WORLD 2016
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 28
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - Conferences
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 30
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 31
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 32
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 33
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 34
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 35
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 36
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 37
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - End-users
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 39
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - Automotive
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 41
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 42
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - Awards
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 44
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 45
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 46
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 47
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 48
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 49
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 50
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 51
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 52
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 53
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 54
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 55
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 56
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - Basalt
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 58
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - Engineering
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - Performing
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 61
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 62
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 63
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - Strategy
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 65
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 66
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 67
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 68
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 69
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - Joining
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 72
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 73
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 74
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 75
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - Testing
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 77
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 78
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 79
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 80
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - Impact resistance
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 82
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 83
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 84
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 85
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - Wind
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 87
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - Software
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 89
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 90
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - Epoxy
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 92
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 93
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - Repair
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 95
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - Thermoplastic
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 97
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 98
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 99
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 100
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - Sandwich
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 102
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 103
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 104
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 105
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - In the world
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 107
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 108
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