Quasi Static Axial Loading on Carbon fiber wind to HDPE Composite Pipe (CFWHCP)

Carbon fiber-reinforced polymer, also known as carbon fiber-reinforced plastic is a type of composite polymer which is extremely strong and light. Manufacturers will select to use this material on high-end quality products such as exotic sports car, oil and gas equipment, aerospace and so on when there is a need of high strength-to-weight ratio specification. This project discusses on the fabrication of different arrangement of various sizes of carbon fiber tow wind to HDPE composite pipe (CFWHCP) and their mechanical properties. 2 types of sample with winding angle of 57°: CFWHCP of 6 fiber tows of same size (12k) and different size (12k and 6k); were fabricated with epoxy as the matrix in SIRIM Permatang Pauh. No fiber triangle potential voids of the samples were studied through SEM analysis. It was found that the no-fiber triangle void for 12k and 6k sample is larger than 12k sample. This is due to the arrangement of fiber tow which will be discussed more in problem statement in chapter 1.2. Literature review in chapter 2.2 proved that void content is inversely proportional to the mechanical strength of material. Through result analysis in dog-boned tensile test, hoop tensile test, axial & lateral quasi static loading test in chapter 3.2.5, it is proven that 12k sample with smaller void is better and higher in terms of failure mode, energy absorption and Young’s modulus.