Carbon-fiber-reinforced Foam/Carbon-fiber-reinforced Plastic Hybrid Structure Optimized for Mammography with High X-ray Transmittance

To reduce patient radiation exposure in mammographic imaging, we investigated the mechanical and radiographic properties of a newly developed carbon-fiber-reinforced foam (CFRF) and its hybrid structures with conventional carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP).Flexural stiffness and X-ray transmittance were evaluated for multiple composite designs using three-point bending and transmission measurements under mammographic conditions.The CFRF-only specimen demonstrated a 5% improvement in transmittance and a 25% increase in flexural stiffness compared with CFRP.Moreover, the CFRF thickness can be reduced from 3.4 to 3.2 mm while maintaining equivalent stiffness.Among all designs, the CFRP/CFRF/CFRP sandwich structure achieved the highest transmittance (94.1%) and superior stiffness at the same thickness as conventional CFRP, indicating its high suitability for mammographic platforms.The results suggest that CFRF-based composites offer promising potential to reduce radiation dose while maintaining image quality in breast imaging systems.