ABSTRACT
In re cen t y ea rs f ib e r re in fo rc e d epoxy has fo u n d in c re a s in g a p p lic a tio n as a s t ru c tu ra l m a te r ia l fo r a p p lic a tio n s w here w e ig h t is a c r i t ic a l c o n s id e ra tio n , as it is fo r m arin e an d ae ro sp ace in d u s tr ie s . T hese f ib e r-p o ly m e r com posites are also used fo r m a n u fa c tu re o f sp o rtin g eq u ip m e n t such as ’’c a rb o n ” f ib e r f ish in g rods an d te n n is ra ck e ts , o r b icy c le fram e co n s tru c tio n . R e in fo rc in g fib e rs a re m ost f re q u e n tly g ra p h ite (ca rb o n fib e r), g lass ( f ib e r glass) or, in som e a p p lic a tio n s k ev la r. F o r a p p lic a tio n s o f epoxy f ib e r com posites to u g h n ess is th e m ost im p o r ta n t c o n s id e ra tio n (1). P u re epox ies a re u se fu l b ecau se th ey have h ig h s tif fn e s s , h ig h s tre n g th , a re ch em ica lly re s is ta n t, an d h av e d im en s io n a l s ta b il ity (2), b u t th ey lack to u g h n ess and are b r it t le . T hus, com posites a re fo rm ed w ith a co n tin u o u s epoxy p o ly m er to ga in ’’to u g h n ess” in th e co m b in ed m a te r ia l.
