Effect of Surface Treatment and Sizing on Composite Properties

8 EFFECT OF SURFACE TREATMENT AND SIZING ON COMPOSITE PROPERTIES 

The effect of surface finishes on the properties of carbon fiber composites has been discussed by Wright [47,48] and Peebles [49]. 

When dealing with a brittle matrix, the composite failed at the first or second break [51]. The surface treatment process increased the interfacial shear strength by about 60% (Table 20.19) [50]. It was found that the atomic surface concentrations of oxygen did not 

Source Reprinted with permission from Rich MJ, Drzal LT, J Reinf Plast Composites, 7(2), 145-154, 1988. Copyright 1988, Sage Publications. 

A more comprehensive investigation was undertaken by Herrera-Franco and Drzal [53] and the authors suggested that the differences observed in the tests were due to the manner in which each test reacted to the conditions that prevailed at the interface region. The short beam shear is only an estimate of the interlaminar shear, whereas the losipescu does produce a state of pure shear (Table 20.20). 

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