Volume 14, Issue 3, 2005

Damping performance of thermoplastic-elastomer interleaved CFRP - Effect of viscoelasticity of the inter-laminar films and stiffness of the intra-laminar region -

Hajime Kishi*, Manabu Kuwata, Satoshi Matsuda, Toshihiko Asami
and Atsushi Murakami

Graduate School of Engineering, Himeji Institute of Technology,
University of Hyogo, 2167 Shosha, Himeji, 671-2201, JAPAN

(Received 6/04; accepted 3/05)

*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed
Phone/Fax: +81-792-67-4843, E-mail: kishi@eng.u-hyogo.ac.jp

Abstract
The objective of this study is to characterize damping performance of carbon-fibre reinforced interleaved toughened laminates using two types of thermoplastic-elastomer films as the interleaf materials. The damping properties of interleaved laminates depend not only on the viscoelastic properties of the interleaf films but also on the laminate sequence. The stiffness of the intra-laminar region, which can be determined by the fibre volume fraction, the elastic modulus of the fibres and the fibre arrangements, would give considerable effect on the local strain of the interleaf films and control the damping properties of the whole interleaved laminates.
Keywords: Damping, Composites, Carbon fibre, Epoxy, Thermoplastic-elastomer, Interleaf.