Manufacturing Technology and Mechanical Properties of Novel Pre-Impregnated Coatings as Applied to FRP “Sandwich” Composites
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
- Silicon carbide green;
- Glauconite;
- Stainless-steel shot;
- Quartz sand;
- Chrome electro-corundum.
2.1. Manufacturing Technology for Pre-Impregnated Coatings
- -
- By adjusting the rotational speed of the powder feeder roller while maintaining the same number of passes;
- -
- By adjusting the number of passes while maintaining the same rotational speed of the feeder roller.
- One-sided cavities;
- Uniform defects covering the entire sheet;
- Excessive powder at the beginning and end of the layer, resulting from the delayed movement of the feeder.
2.2. Vacuum Infusion Technology
- Preparing the glass plate by coating it with a thin layer of wax;
- Arrangement of the PC sheets so that the FL was on the glass side (Figure 8a);
- Placement of three layers of reinforcement involved a “Soric SF” core; again three layers of reinforcement; and also peel-ply, perforated film and infusion mesh. The package was closed with a vacuum bag, in which a vacuum of 300 hPa was applied;
- Preparation of the resin/catalyst mixture by mechanical mixing, placing the container with the mixture in a vacuum chamber to remove the air. This process is illustrated in Figure A2 in the Appendix.
- A 3 mm thick "Soric SF" core;
- GFRP laminate layers on both sides;
- Single-sided PC coating.
2.3. Strength Tests
- Pre-impregnate tensile for 30 mm × 250 mm specimens (Figure 11) measuring 30 mm × 250 mm—batch A (three specimens for each batch);
- Bending for PC “sandwich” composite—30 mm × 120 mm specimens—batch B (three specimens for each batch);
- Adhesion for the “sandwich” composite with PC—25 mm diameter circular specimens—batch C (five specimens for each batch).
3. Results and Discussion
- PC tensile strength test with different powders for the FL;
- Adhesion tests of the “sandwich” composite with PC;
- Three-point bending tests of the “sandwich” composite with PC.
3.1. PC Tensile Tests
- When PC is manufactured in tape form and must be wound onto a spool. The tension force of the spool must not cause plastic deformation of the tape;
- PC is applied to the product, and the tension force must not exceed the limit for the formation of permanent deformations.
3.2. PC Adhesion Tests
3.3. 3-PB Tests of PC “Sandwich” Composites
4. Conclusions
- The choice of gradation of the FL and the BL, as well as the proportion of thermoplastic material, has a significant impact on the final thickness and grammage of the PC. For the materials used in this work, PC thicknesses in the range 1.11 to 1.41 mm and grammages from 1.37 to 2.35 kg/m2 were obtained;
- Considering the failure force of a 30 mm wide PC, it is in the range of 24.61 N to 28.73 N. This is an important parameter from a technological point of view, e.g., when using winding where material tension must be ensured;
- The Young’s modulus, depending on the FL powders used, can vary between 38.58 MPa and 84.15 MPa, and the Poisson’s ratio varies from 0.26 to 0.34. This is important information that can be used to build a global numerical model in the future;
- The PC on the “sandwich” composite has satisfactory adhesion ranging from 0.95 MPa to 1.57 MPa, which allows it to be used in civil engineering;
- Three-point bending tests have shown that the one-sided application of PC results in a decrease in maximum force of approximately 9.77% compared to reference specimens without PC. This result was achieved for the C_1 batch with silicon carbide as the FL. The large advantages of using PC appear at the bending stage after the maximum force has been reached. PC makes the absorbed energy higher, and also the force drops by about 45% to 52% from the maximum value. For reference specimens, the decrease in force after the maximum value is as high as 69%;
- Pre-impregnated coatings made of powders with a variety of colours highlight the wide decorative possibilities of the products. PCs, therefore, have a high implementation potential.
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
Abbreviations
FRP | fibre-reinforced polymer |
PC | pre-impregnated coating |
FL | functional layer |
BL | backing layer |
3-PB | three-point bending |
DIC | digital image correlation |
GFRP | glass fibre-reinforced polymer |
CFRP | carbon fibre-reinforced polymer |
UV | ultraviolet |
UHMWPE | ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene |
7YSZ | 7% yttria-stabilised zirconia |
APS | atmospheric plasma spray |
TBC | thermal barrier coating |
PVA | poly(vinyl alcohol) |
APP | ammonium polyphosphate |
SP | sepiolite nanofillers |
PMC | polymer matrix composite |
SEM | scanning electron microscope |
MEKP | methyl ethyl ketone peroxides |
%RSD | percent relative standard deviation |
Appendix A
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Batch Number | Batch 1 | Batch 2 | Batch 3 | Batch 4 | Batch 5 | Batch 1–5 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Type of FL powder | silicon carbide | glauconite | stainless-steel shot | quartz sand | chromium electro-corundum | white electro-corundum |
FEPA-F granularity | F220 | F60 | F050 | F080 | F036 | F24 |
Grain size [μm] | 58 | 260 | 336 | 185 | 525 | 745 |
Density of powder material [g/cm3] | 3.21 | 2.5 | 7.8 | 2.65 | 3.95 | 3.95 |
Batch Number | Batch 1 | Batch 2 | Batch 3 | Batch 4 | Batch 5 | Batch 6 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Type of FL powder | silicon carbide | glauconite | stainless-steel shot | quartz sand | chromium electro-corundum | - |
PC grammage [kg/m2] | 1.37 | 1.62 | 2.35 | 1.97 | 1.98 | 0.25 |
PC grammage [kg/m2] | 1.11 ± 0.08 | 1.19 ± 0.06 | 1.27 ± 0.06 | 1.11 ± 0.06 | 1.41 ± 0.05 | 0.29 ± 0.02 |
Percentage of non-woven | 18.36 | 15.56 | 10.72 | 12.79 | 12.70 | 100 |
Silicon Carbide | Glauconite | Stainless Steel Shot | Quartz Sand | Chromium Electro-Corundum | Ref. (Without PC) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
thickness [mm] | 5.26 ± 0.07 | 5.46 ± 0.06 | 5.66 ± 0.05 | 5.69 ± 0.09 | 5.77 ± 0.05 | 4.12 ± 0.03 |
Batch 1 | Batch 2 | Batch 3 | Batch 4 | Batch 5 | Batch 6 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
a1 [kN/mm] | 15.26 | 19.5 | 14.42 | 27.88 | 14.62 | 3.08 |
a2 [kN/mm2] | −3.50 | −4.6 | −2.58 | −13.40 | −2.79 | −0.0738 |
a3 [kN/mm3] | 0.217 | 0.358 | 0.145 | 3.19 | 0.157 | - |
a4 [kN/mm4] | - | - | - | −0.297 | - | - |
coef. of det. | 0.999 | 0.999 | 1.000 | 0.998 | 0.999 | 1.000 |
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Golewski, P.; Budka, M. Manufacturing Technology and Mechanical Properties of Novel Pre-Impregnated Coatings as Applied to FRP “Sandwich” Composites. Materials 2025, 18, 4725. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18204725
Golewski P, Budka M. Manufacturing Technology and Mechanical Properties of Novel Pre-Impregnated Coatings as Applied to FRP “Sandwich” Composites. Materials. 2025; 18(20):4725. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18204725
Chicago/Turabian StyleGolewski, Przemysław, and Michał Budka. 2025. "Manufacturing Technology and Mechanical Properties of Novel Pre-Impregnated Coatings as Applied to FRP “Sandwich” Composites" Materials 18, no. 20: 4725. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18204725
APA StyleGolewski, P., & Budka, M. (2025). Manufacturing Technology and Mechanical Properties of Novel Pre-Impregnated Coatings as Applied to FRP “Sandwich” Composites. Materials, 18(20), 4725. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18204725