Effect on mechanical properties of CFRP composites in different fiber orientations

Composite materials are generally made for high-strength, lightweight applications. Especially, the FRP composite exhibits remarkable properties such as high strength, stiffness, lightweight, damping properties, and resistance to corrosion, fire, and wear. The change in fiber orientation is one of the key factors in getting composites with better mechanical properties. Tensile stability, flexural strength, and resistance to impacts are only some of the structural features these fibers can promote. Carbon fiber becomes the reinforcement in the present research, and epoxy resin works as the necessary composites’ foundation material. The effect of different fiber orientations on carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy-based matrix composites (CFRP) is determined by mechanical testing, and the fabrication process is done by using filament drum winding followed by hand layup and compression molding. Three different orientations, such as [0°], [0°/90°], and [0°/90°/+45°/-45°] laminates, with two different thickness levels of 2.4 mm and 3.6 mm, are examined. The variation in mechanical properties corresponding to various orientations and the number of layers used that increase the thickness of the fiber plates is also considered. The samples were tested for mechanical characterization such as tensile, flexural, and impact strength up to the failure point, and the results were calculated. The result shows that the unidirectional fiber orientation [0°] achieved high tensile and flexural strength due to the fiber being aligned along the loading direction. And the multi-directional fiber orientation [0°/90°/45°/-45°] exhibited high impact strength due to its anisotropic fiber alignment.