Experimental research on the mechanism of non-monotonic characteristic between curing temperature and mechanical behaviors of Kevlar/epoxy composite

An experimental procedure is conducted to investigate the mechanism of the non-monotonic characteristic between curing temperature and mechanical behaviors of the Kevlar/epoxy composite in macro and micro levels. Different specimens are fabricated at four different curing temperatures and tested with ±45° off-axis tensile loading on a universal test machine coupled with digital image correlation (DIC). Moreover, the environmental scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to obtain the micrographs and reveal their mechanism. The tested results show that the tensile mechanical behaviors are sensitive to the curing temperature and the relationship is non-monotonic. Also, as the temperature increases, the thicknesses of the specimens are significantly enlarged. By analyzing the SEM micrographs of the matrix grooves in the damage zone and DIC strain contours, it is concluded that the non-monotonic relationship is dominated by the properties of the Kevlar/epoxy interfaces and deformation of the distorted fibers.