Adhesion and toughness in carbon-fibre reinforced plastics

A literature survey of adhesion was undertaken with special emphasis on plastics, glass fibres and existing methods of measuring adhesion and comparing physical properties. The effectiveness of adhesion in carbon-fibre reinforced plastics has hitherto been determined by inter-laminar shear strength testing, although the true meaning of this test may still be obscure. The present work set out to measure adhesion between single carbon fibres and polymers, (a) by pulling single carbon fibres from solidified drops of plastic (a technique not previously reported in the literature) and (b) by stressing clear thermoset resins in which single fibres were embedded......