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Latest Developments in Organic Matrix Composites and Multifunctional Materials
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Latest Developments in Organic Matrix Composites and Multifunctional Materials

A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Advanced Composites".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 April 2025) | Viewed by 6030

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Michelle Salvia

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Laboratory of Tribology and Dynamics of Systems (LTDS), Ecole Centrale de Lyon, 69134 Ecully, CEDEX, France
Interests: durability of organic matrix composites; smart composites; bonding; viscoelastic behaviour
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Until now, thermosetting matrices have been the most commonly used matrices for structural parts. The use of thermoplastics, even for large parts, seems to be emerging due to their toughness and recyclability (compared to thermosets). Natural fibre reinforcements show interesting characteristics for secondary parts: they are light, environmentally friendly, relatively cheap to produce, renewable, and with enough high stiffness and strength. Moreover, in order to improve out-of-plane through-thickness properties when they are needed, 3D composites have been developed.

In recent years, the introduction of multifunctional composite material systems has made it possible to further improve primary functions, such as the stiffness associated with lightness, by combining thermoforming and injection manufacturing processes (overmoulded laminates), or impact behaviour, by using composites reinforced with different types of fibres, with some chosen for their rigidity (carbon) and others for their damping capacity (flax).

Thanks to classical manufacturing methods such as the ply lay-up process or 3D printing, it is relatively easy to embed sensors and actuators in composite materials at a mesoscopic scale, or to print layers with specific patterns often bioinspired to produce multifunctions and primary functions such as self-control or self-healing, shape change, and energy harvesting.

This Special Issue focuses on the development of new composites, especially multifunctional composites, and the study of their properties (included long-term behavior).

Topics of interest include but are not limited to the following:

  • New components (matrices, reinforcements) and manufacturing as 3D printing;
  • Eco-friendly composite materials (matrix, reinforcements);
  • Bioinspired composites
  • Structural health monitoring (sensors and actuators);
  • Self-healing materials and damage control;
  • Shape control, energy harvesting;
  • Meta composites

Dr. Michelle Salvia
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Materials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • composite
  • high-performance composite
  • durability
  • SHM
  • self-healing
  • eco-friendly composite

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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11 pages, 2111 KiB  
Article
Strengthening Process by Electron Beam to Carbon Fiber for Impact Strength Enhancement of Interlayered Thermoplastic-Polypropylene Carbon Fiber Composite
by Hideki Kimura, Keisuke Takeda, Helmut Takahiro Uchida, Michael C. Faudree, Kohei Sagawa, Satoru Kaneko, Michelle Salvia and Yoshitake Nishi
Materials 2022, 15(21), 7620; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15217620 - 30 Oct 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2015
Abstract
Strong adhesion between recyclable thermoplastic (TP) polymer and carbon fiber (CF) has always been highly sought after. Therefore, for an interlayered CF reinforced TP polypropylene (CFRTPP) composite composed of 3 sized CF plies, alternating between 4 PP sheets, designated [PP]4[CF]3 [...] Read more.
Strong adhesion between recyclable thermoplastic (TP) polymer and carbon fiber (CF) has always been highly sought after. Therefore, for an interlayered CF reinforced TP polypropylene (CFRTPP) composite composed of 3 sized CF plies, alternating between 4 PP sheets, designated [PP]4[CF]3, a process of activating CF plies directly on both sides with homogeneous low energy electron beam irradiation (EBI) under N2 gas, prior to lamination assembly and hot press of 4.0 MPa at 493 K for 3 min was carried out. Experimental results showed EBI dose of 43.2, 129, or 216 kGy significantly raised Charpy impact values, auc at all fracture probabilities, Pf. The 129 kGy dose appeared to be at or near optimum increasing auc 103%, 83%, and 65% at low-, median-, and high-Pf = 0.07, 0.50, and 0.93; while raising statistically lowest impact value, as at Pf = 0 calculated by 3-dimensional Weibull equation about 110%, indicating increased safety and reliability. It is assumed dangling bonds generated by the EBI rapidly form covalent bonds CF:C:O:C:PP and CF:C:C:PP at the interface, along with cross-linking in the PP near the CF. This is by charge transfer from CF to PP. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Latest Developments in Organic Matrix Composites and Multifunctional Materials)
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Review

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42 pages, 3290 KiB  
Review
A Review of Damage Tolerance and Mechanical Behavior of Interlayer Hybrid Fiber Composites for Wind Turbine Blades
by Amir Baharvand, Julie J. E. Teuwen and Amrit Shankar Verma
Materials 2025, 18(10), 2214; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18102214 - 10 May 2025
Viewed by 727
Abstract
This review investigates interlayer hybrid fiber composites for wind turbine blades (WTBs), focusing on their potential to enhance blade damage tolerance and maintain structural integrity. The objectives of this review are: (I) to assess the effect of different hybrid lay-up configurations on the [...] Read more.
This review investigates interlayer hybrid fiber composites for wind turbine blades (WTBs), focusing on their potential to enhance blade damage tolerance and maintain structural integrity. The objectives of this review are: (I) to assess the effect of different hybrid lay-up configurations on the damage tolerance and failure analysis of interlayer hybrid fiber composites and (II) to identify potential fiber combinations for WTBs to supplement or replace existing glass fibers. Our method involves comprehensive qualitative and quantitative analyses of the existing literature. Qualitatively, we assess the damage tolerance—with an emphasis on impact load—and failure analysis under blades operational load of six distinct hybrid lay-up configurations. Quantitatively, we compare tensile and flexural properties—essential for WTBs structural integrity—of hybrid and glass composites. The qualitative review reveals that placing high elongation (HE)-low stiffness (LS) fibers, e.g., glass, on the impacted side reduces damage size and improves residual properties of hybrid composites. Placing low elongation (LE)-high stiffness (HS) fibers, e.g., carbon, in middle layers, protects them during impact load and equips hybrid composites with mechanisms that delay failure under various load conditions. A sandwich lay-up with HE-LS fibers on the outermost and LE-HS fibers in the innermost layers provides the best balance between structural integrity and post-impact residual properties. This lay-up benefits from synergistic effects, including fiber bridging, enhanced buckling resistance, and the mitigation of LE-HS fiber breakage. Quantitatively, hybrid synthetic/natural composites demonstrate nearly a twofold improvement in mechanical properties compared to natural fiber composites. Negligible enhancement (typically 10%) is observed for hybrid synthetic/synthetic composites relative to synthetic fiber composites. Additionally, glass/carbon, glass/flax, and carbon/flax composites are potential alternatives to present glass laminates in WTBs. This review is novel as it is the first attempt to identify suitable interlayer hybrid fiber composites for WTBs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Latest Developments in Organic Matrix Composites and Multifunctional Materials)
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19 pages, 2724 KiB  
Review
Advances in Titanium/Polymer Hybrid Joints by Carbon Fiber Plug Insert: Current Status and Review
by Michael C. Faudree, Helmut Takahiro Uchida, Hideki Kimura, Satoru Kaneko, Michelle Salvia and Yoshitake Nishi
Materials 2022, 15(9), 3220; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15093220 - 29 Apr 2022
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 2716
Abstract
A literature review of up-to-date methods to strengthen Ti/carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) hybrid joints is given. However, there are little or no studies on Ti/CFRP joints by carbon fiber plug insert, which takes advantage of the extremely high surface adhesion area of ~6 μm [...] Read more.
A literature review of up-to-date methods to strengthen Ti/carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) hybrid joints is given. However, there are little or no studies on Ti/CFRP joints by carbon fiber plug insert, which takes advantage of the extremely high surface adhesion area of ~6 μm CFs. Therefore, we cover the current status and review our previously published results developing hybrid joints by a CF plug insert with spot-welded Ti half-lengths to enhance the safety levels of aircraft fan blades. A thermoset Ti/CF/epoxy joint exhibited an ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of 283 MPa when calculated according to the rule of mixtures (RM) for the CF cross-section portion. With concern for the environment, thermoplastic polymers (TPs) allowed recyclability. However, a drawback is easy CF pull-out from difficult-to-adhere TPs due to insufficient contact sites. Therefore, research on a novel method of homogeneous low voltage electron beam irradiation (HLEBI) to activate a bare CF half-length prior to dipping in a TP resin was reviewed and showed that the UTS by the RM of Ti/EBCF/acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and Ti/EBCF/polycarbonate (PC) joints increased 154% (from 55 to 140 MPa) and 829% (from 30 to 195 MPa), respectively, over the untreated sample. The optimum 0.30 MGy HLEBI prevented CF pull-out by apparently growing crystallites into the TP around the CF circumference, raising the UTS amount closer to that of epoxy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Latest Developments in Organic Matrix Composites and Multifunctional Materials)
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