Glass or carbon fibres in polymer matrix composites
Henryk Leda Politechnika Poznańska, Instytut Inżynierii Materiałowej, pl. M. Skłodowskiej-Curie 5, 60-965 Poznań
Annals 3 No. 7, 2003 pages 209-215
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abstract The paper is divided into two parts: general review and results of author’s experiments concerning composites reinforced with carbon or glass fibres. The review deals with popular opinions presented in the media, where adventages of carbon fibres are widely discussed and rated as cosmic materials; therefore glass fibres being less often mentioned. This is followed by a presentation of physical and chemical principles of excellent properties of carbon fibres, leading to their applications also in the areas distinct from space and military industries. In the next part od this chapter the widely known arguments in favour of glass fibers, such as low cost and electrical non-conductivity are discussed. In the last part of the introduction data concerning carbon and glass fibres taken from papers published in world leading magazines in this field were summarized. Polish books dealing with composite materials are also reviewed. In the second part of this paper the results of experiments in the field of composites reinforced with carbon or glass fibres are presented. In the first subchapter the results of axial compression tests of tube products e.g. vaulting poles, fishing poles or boat masts are shown. Special emphasis is put on the influence of carbon or glass fibres on the above-mentioned parameters. The second subchapter shows the results of the influence of hot water vapour on the strength of thick-walled composite samples reinforced with carbon or glass fibres in tests of axial compression. The results of different bending tests are described in an attempt to select the combination of fibres and matrix with the best strength parameters in these tests. The fourth subchapter deals with the results of short beam tests, evaluating the influence of fibres and matrix on volume effect in these conditions. In the last part of this work energy absorption tests e.g. impact bending, low and high energy striking against composite plates are discussed and superiority of glass fibres is highlightened. The paper seems to answer the question in its title. Key words: carbon fibres, glass fibres, composite materials, selected composite properties