Investigating the contribution of physical versus chemical adhesion in the measured value of the fibre-matrix interfacial shear strength of glass-epoxy composites

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Malone, Beth and Lunn, Rebecca and Payne, Alexander and Thomason, James and Minty, Ross F. (2025) Investigating the contribution of physical versus chemical adhesion in the measured value of the fibre-matrix interfacial shear strength of glass-epoxy composites. IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, 1338. 012025. ISSN 1757-899X (https://doi.org/10.1088/1757-899X/1338/1/012025)

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Abstract

The present work investigates the physical parameters contributing to the fibre-matrix interfacial shear strength (IFSS) of sized glass fibres. The IFSS of two differently sized glass fibres, one epoxy-compatible and one multi-compatible, was characterised using the microbond test. The fibres were then coated with gold with the aim of making the fibre surface chemically inert, therefore removing any chemical bonding across the interface. Microbond testing was conducted on the gold-coated fibres with the average IFSS of each gold-coated fibre compared to its uncoated counterpart. Gold coating of the multi-compatible fibres resulted in an unchanged IFSS, whereas the epoxy-compatible fibres presented a substantial drop in IFSS. Both gold-coated fibres had a comparable IFSS value, indicating that with the potential removal of chemical bonding across the surface, the primary contribution to the interfacial shear strength was the physical parameters. The results presented lend credence to the hypothesis that physical parameters may contribute significantly to the stress transfer capability of epoxy composites.

ORCID iDs

Malone, Beth, Lunn, Rebecca, Payne, Alexander, Thomason, James ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0868-3793 and Minty, Ross F. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3729-5215;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)