The Effect of Chopped Carbon Fiber on Morphology, Electromagnetic, and Mechanical Properties of Glass/Epoxy Composites for Aerospace Application

The objective of the present work was to study the effect of varied weight percentages of chopped carbon fiber (CCF) as functional material in glass fabric-reinforced plastic (GFRP) composites. The electromagnetic and mechanical properties of these functional composites were analyzed to explore the potential applications in the aerospace/defense industry as a stealth solution. Developed composites were mechanically tested with variable crosshead speed (1–3 mm/min.). These composites showed degradation in tensile strength with enhancement in the concentration of CCF. However, flexural strength and interlaminar shear strength decreased initially and then increased. GFRP composite with 0.1 weight % of CCF loading showed electromagnetic absorption of 16.3 dB at 9.20 GHz (X-band). Microstructural analysis was conducted using FESEM which also supports the mechanical behavior of composites. Taguchi method was applied to optimize the process parameters of crosshead speed and loading of functional material. Graphic abstract