Carbon Fiber Reinforced Composite - Toughness and Structural Integrity Enhancement by Integrating Surface Modified Steel Fibers

Carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) was integrated with steel fibers in order to improve the toughness and to enhance the structural integrity during crash. An epoxy system with internal mold release was chosen as the matrix system. The surface modification of steel fibers was done by sandblasting and twisting in order to improve the fiber-matrix adhesion through mechanical interlocking mechanism. The pull-out test of surface modified steel fiber doubled the adhesive strength. The steel fiber integration increased the maximum bending stress of the composites up to 20% whereas the elongation at break reduced to 2.3%. The energy dissipation factor of the steel fiber integrated CFRPs was also reduced compared to CFRPs without steel fiber. An increase in fracture toughness was observed for the CFRPs with steel fibers that amounts to 17 J.