Mechanical investigation of fibre reinforced materials for superconducting poloidal field coil design

This Paper reports the results of flexural and shear measurements of fibre reinforced plastic materials. The materials tested were carbon fibre reinforced plastics (CFRP) and glass fibre reinforced plastics (GFRP). The objectives of the tests were to determine the mechanical properties of the industrially manufactured thick walled structures. The rectangular hollow section made of CFRP material produced has a wall thickness of ≈30 mm. The anisotropic characteristics of the flexural properties were determined at ambient temperature and at 77 K. In addition, pultruded GFRP complex shaped sections were measured with respect to their mechanical behaviour. Results on the thermal shrinkage measurements of CFRP- and GFRP-structures are also reported. An evaluation of the data and their impact on design were discussed under the consideration of superconducting poloidal field coil aspects.