Comparing the mechanical properties of rubber-doped carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics produced by vacuum infusion and compression molding

The paper studies the microstructure and mechanical properties of composite materials produced by vacuum infusion and prepreg compression molding for a given specimen geometry with the addition of layers of vulcanized rubber sheet. Compared to the composites produced by vacuum infusion, those produced by compression molding have a twice as high bending elastic modulus and 1.8 times as high strength. It has been found that the use of rubber layers allows one to control the mechanical properties of the composite, namely to reduce the elastic modulus significantly, with an insignificant decrease in the strength parameters. It was possible to reduce the modulus by a factor of 5.5 for the composites produced by vacuum infusion, and by a factor of 4 for those produced by compression molding. The ultimate strength was halved for both technologies.