Carbon fiber prepreg is a composite material precursor formed by impregnating continuous carbon fibers, carbon fiber fabrics, or chopped carbon fibers with a resin matrix under specific process conditions. It serves as a primary material for producing advanced composite structural components.
As a fiber – reinforced resin – based material, carbon fiber prepreg can be cured and shaped under high – temperature and high – pressure conditions to yield high – strength, lightweight composite structural parts.
Advantages of carbon fiber prepreg include easy moldability, relatively low cost, precise fiber content control, and superior properties such as tensile strength, stiffness, fatigue resistance, and corrosion resistance. These advantages make carbon fiber prepreg widely used across various industries.
Carbon fiber prepreg mainly consists of carbon fibers and a resin matrix. Based on the carbon fiber reinforcement method, it can be categorized into unidirectional and multi – directional reinforcement types.
There are two primary production methods for carbon fiber prepreg. One method involves heating the resin to reduce its viscosity, allowing it to be evenly distributed between the fibers, known as the hot – melt method. The other method, called solution impregnation, involves dissolving the resin in a solvent to reduce viscosity, impregnating the fibers with the resin, and then heating to evaporate the solvent.
Common molding processes for prepreg include the vacuum bag process, autoclave process, molding process, filament winding process, pultrusion process, winding process, and pressure bag process. These processes enable the production of high – quality composite components tailored to specific application requirements.
