Understanding compressive strength improvement of high modulus carbon-fiber reinforced polymeric composites through fiber-matrix interface characterization

Low fiber-direction compressive strength of high-modulus (HM) carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRPs) has been their major weakness prohibiting implementation of such materials in aircraft primary structures despite improving mechanical stiffness at a lower weight. A new HM CFRP achieving fiber-direction compressive strength of intermediate-modulus (IM) CFRPs but with more than 30% higher axial modulus has been recently developed. This work...