5.

Fibre Content
In order to specify any composite material, we must have a quantitative description of the proportions of the constituents it contains. In this chapter, we introduce the concepts of weight and volume fractions, and show how they relate to ply and laminate thickness. 5.1 Weight Fraction In manufacture, it is natural to describe the constituents of a composite in terms of their proportions by weight. onstituents !reinforcement, matri", fillers, etc# are routinely weighed before processing, and laminate weight per unit area may be a design specification. $he term weight fraction may be applied to any of the constituents. %ence, a manufacturer of &'( will invariably refer to the glass content as, for e"ample, )5 wt*. + prepreg supplier will usually specify a resin content !eg ,- wt*#. In general, for a composite containing any number of different constituents.

=1

!5.1#

where Wi is the weight fraction of constituent i. In a simple composite containing only fibre and matri".
Wf + Wm = 1

or

Wm = 1 Wf

5.) /olume Fraction For reasons which will become obvious, designers need the constituents to be quantified in terms of their volume fraction. learly.

=1

!5.)#

and for our simple fibre0matri" composite.

/f + /m = 1

or

/m = 1 /f

In general, the weight fraction and volume fraction of a given constituent will be different, unless all the components happen to have the same density.
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With a knowledge of the densities of the constituents, we can convert weight fraction to volume fraction and vice versa. For constituent a.

/a =

Wa a Wi i /a a /i i

!5.,#

and

Wa =
!5.-#

In a simple composite containing only fibre and matri", we have.

/f =

Wf f Wf f + (1 Wf ) a /f f /f f + (1 /f ) f

!5.5#

and

Wf =

!5.2#

3quation !5.5# is plotted for three common polymer composites in Fig. 5.1. $he assumed values of the densities of the constituents are given in $able 5.1.

1 0.9 fibre volume fraction 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 fibre weight fraction glass HS carbon aramid

Fig. 5.1. Weight fraction 0 volume fraction conversion for common polymer composites.

Table 5.1: Typical constituent densities material 31glass fibre carbon fibre
51)

density (kg/m3) )544 1544

aramid fibre thermosetting resin !typical#

1-44 1)44

5., +chievable Fibre /olume Fractions $he highest fibre volume fractions are obtained with unidirectional reinforcement. If we assume that all fibres have the same diameter, and can be arranged in a perfectly parallel fashion, then the theoretical ma"imum fibre volume fraction will be achieved with he"agonal close packing !Fig. 5.)#.
2R

3R

Fig. 5.). 'epresentation of close packing in cross1section of unidirectional fibre1 reinforcement.

Close-pac ed !e"agonal cross-sec#ion o$ $ibres

%&ni# cell' represen#ing basic repea#ing s!ape

+s the alignment of the fibres is fi"ed, the volume fraction is the same as the 6area fraction7. In the triangular unit cell in Fig. 5.), the total area occupied by fibre is equal to three 24o segments. $he unit cell has area , '), so that
/fma" = , ' ) 2 = = 4.849 81* ) ,' ) ,

!5.9#

:f course, such a high volume fraction is not achievable in practice ; even if such a high degree of fibre collimation were available, the fact that fibres are touching would result in an ineffective composite. :f all the manufacturing process described in hapter -, filament winding is usually associated with the highest fibre volume fractions ; with careful control of fibre tension and resin content, values of around 94* are possible. +s soon as the fibres are presented in non1unidirectional form, such as woven fabrics or random mats !see hapter ,#, a proportion of the reinforcement is oriented out of plane. lose packing is no longer possible, and the ma"imum fibre volume fraction is reduced.

51,

$able 5.) gives typical values for fibre volume fractions in polymer composites. (recise values will of course be process1dependent. Table 5.2: Typical fibre volume fractions reinforcement form unidirectional woven random mat 5.-. <aminate $hickness $he thickness of a composite laminate depends on the amount of reinforcement and the relative amount of resin which has been included. For a given quantity of reinforcement, a laminate with a high fibre volume fraction will be thinner than one with a lower fibre volume fraction, since it will contain less resin. onsider unit area of laminate, thickness d, containing n plies of reinforcement with areal weight +w. $he volume of fibre is given by n+w 0 f. $he total volume of the laminate is =ust d, giving the following equation for fibre volume fraction.
/f = n+ w f d

possible range of fibre volume fractions (%) 54 ; 94 ,5 ; 55 14 ; ,4

typical value for fibre volume fraction (%) 25 -5 )4

!5.5#

or

d=

n+ w f /f

!5.8#

3quation 5.8 describes the situation when we know the fibre content and wish to calculate the laminate thickness, as in hand lay1up for e"ample. 3quation 5.5 would be used when the laminate thickness is fi"ed !as in '$> or compression moulding# and we want to calculate the fibre volume fraction.

51-

?y setting n @ 1 in 3quation 5.8, we can find the thickness associated with a single ply of given areal weight, moulded to different volume fractions. Figs. 5., and 5.- show typical results for glass and carbon reinforcement.
2 1.8 1.6 1.4 1.2 1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 fibre volume fraction 200 g(m2 300 g(m2 450 g(m2

Fig. 5.,. Aingle ply thickness vs. volume fraction ; glass fibre.

ply thickness (mm)

ply thickness (mm)

1.6 1.4 1.2 1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 fibre volume fraction 200 g(m2 300 g(m2 500 g(m2

Fig. 5.-. Aingle ply thickness vs. volume fraction ; carbon fibre.

Fig. 5.-. Aingle ply thickness vs. volume fraction ; high strength carbon fibre.

515

5.5 <aminate Bensity $he density of a composite laminate is given by the simplest of the various 6'ules of >i"tures7 ; these are discussed in more detail in hapter 2. In general, a composite of total volume / containing constituents of different masses has a density given by
=

>
/

>1 > ) + + ... / /

!5.14#

Aince mass @ density " volume, we can write 3quation 5.14 in terms of the volume and density of each constituent.
=

v
i

1 v1 ) v ) + + ... / /

!5.11#

?ut vi 0 / is =ust the volume fraction of constituent i, so

= i /i

!5.1)#

where /i is the volume fraction of constituent i. For a simple composite comprising only matri" and reinforcement, we have

= f /f + m /m = f /f + m (1 /f ) = ( f m ) /f + m
!5.1,# omposite density is plotted in Fig. 5.5 for glass, carbon and aramid reinforcements, using the same density data given previously.

512

2600 2400 density (kg/m 3) 2200 2000 1800 1600 1400 1200 1000 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 fibre volume fraction 1 aramid glass carbon

Fig. 5.5. $heoretical composite density vs. fibre volume fraction.

5.2

ompressibility of 'einforcement

In some processes, pressure is applied to aid laminate consolidation. Bifferent reinforcement forms will react differently to applied pressure !(#, and hence will contribute differently to overall laminate thickness. Cuinn !)44)# reports data for a simple model of reinforcement compressibility, of the form
/f = a + b (

!5.1-#

where a and b are empirical constants which depend on fibre type and weave style. $able 5.) contains values of a and b for a range of different reinforcements, as reported by Cuinn, and the resultant dependence of fibre volume fraction on applied pressure is shown in Fig. 5.2. Table 5.2: Empirical constants for compressibility equation (5.1 !. "ressure is measured in bar. fibre type 31glass 31glass 31glass 31glass aramid high strength carbon high strength carbon reinforcement form continuous filament mat chopped strand mat roving woven fabric woven fabric DB fabric -5o fabric a 5. 2 )4 ,) -4 -9 ,,5 b 15.5 1-.9 )-.4 1-.12., )5.2 12.,

519

90 80 70 60 #f ($) 50 40 30 20
Fig. 5.2. 3mpirical compressibility of different reinforcements !Cuinn, )44)#.

&) carbon *o+en aramid ,-glass ro+ing *o+en ,-glass *o+en carbon ,-glass CS,-glass C.-

10 0 0 0.5 1 1.5
!/"

s uare root pressure (bar)

5.9 /oid ontent $he presence of voids will add to the total volume, but not the weight of the composite. If /v is the void content then 3quation 5.1, becomes
= f /f + m (1 /f /v )

!5.15#

$he decrease in composite density with void content is shown in Fig. 5.9 for glass0epo"y composites. If the fibre content is known and density can be measured with sufficient accuracy, then the void content can be estimated.

2400 2200 density (kg/m 3) 2000 1800 1600 1400 1200 1000 0 0/ 2/ 5/ Fig. 5.9. Bensity of glass0resin 10/ composite at varying void content. onstituent densities from $able 5.1. 0.8

0oid con#en#

515 0.2

0.4 fibre volume fraction

0.6

518

5.5 3"ercises 1. What would be the ma"imum theoretical fibre volume fraction in a unidirectional composite if the fibres were arranged in a square arrayE ). alculate the fibre volume fraction in a cladding panel made from dough moulding compound !B> # containing the following constituents. glass fibre polyester resin calcium carbonate filler )) wt* 5, wt* )5 wt*

+ssume the density of calcium carbonate is )944 kg0m,. ,. What will be the thickness of a laminate consisting of ) layers of -54 g0m) chopped strand mat if a resin to glass ratio !by weight# of ).1 is usedE -. What fibre volume fraction is achieved if , layers of 544 g0m) glass woven roving is compression moulded to a thickness of ) mmE 5. What increase in pressure will be required to increase the fibre volume fraction of a woven carbon fabric from 55* to 24*E 2. We need to produce a laminate using woven glass fabric reinforcement with a thickness as close to - mm as possible. We have two fabric types available !,44 g0m) and 544 g0m)#. :ur manufacturing process is resin infusion, which produces laminates with a volume fraction of 5)*. If we use ) plies of the lighter fabric at the tool surface, how many plies of the heavier fabric are requiredE What will be the weight per square metre of the resulting laminateE

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