Characterization of mechanical properties of randomly oriented strand thermoplastic composites

There is an emerging interest in the aerospace industry to manufacture components with intricate geometries using discontinuous fibre carbon/polyether–ether–ketone moulding systems (obtained by cutting unidirectional tape into strands). This type of material system is termed randomly oriented strand composites and is appealing for structural applications as it bridges the gap between the lack of formability of continuous fibre composites and the...