Paper number 1216

INFLUENCE OF BINDERS IN THE LIQUID COMPOSITE MOULDING PROCESS ON THE FATIGUE PROPERTIES OF COMPOSITE STRUCTURES

Tobias Geiger, Christoph W. Kensche

Institute of Structures and Design, German Aerospace Centre
Pfaffenwaldring 38 - 40, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany

Summary

Static and fatigue tests were conducted with binder coated glass fibre fabrics to determine the influence of a binder on the material properties of a laminate. Different resin systems are used for the main matrix and the binder system in order to investigate a typical situation from the manufacturing of preforms for the RTM process. The static tests showed a negligible influence of the binder on the relevant material properties. Oscillatory torsion tests on tubes for the determination of the fatigue properties do not indicate a negative influence of the binder system used here in combination with the epoxy matrix. The influence of the binder is far less important than the effect of the fibre fraction in the laminate. A significant decrease in the fatigue strength of the fibre matrix interface is detected in the fatigue tests of flat specimens.

Keywords

LCM, RTM, binders, fatigue, material properties, composite structures.