Investigation of Usability of Carbon Fibers as Reinforcement Material in Composites

Composite materials are new type of materials that are produced by combining two or more different materials which are named matrix and reinforcement material. These materials don’t lose their properties, by this way, composite materials have the best properties of matrix and reinforcement materials. Matrix material gives shape and hardness to the composite structure, while reinforcement material carries load and increases the strength of the composite. High performance properties are expected from the composite materials which are used for technical purposes, and studies are being done for improving the existing properties of the composites. At this point, the selection of the textile fibers to be used as reinforcement material has a great importance. High performance fibers are often preferred as reinforcement material in composite production, because of their superior mechanical properties. Carbon fibers are one of these fibers and has properties such as low density, high tensile modulus and strength, low thermal expansion coefficient. In addition, due to their thermal resistance over 3000oC, carbon fibers don’t exhibit any shrinkage behavior under 2200oC. On the other hand, the high fatigue resistance property of the carbon fibers separates these fibers from other high performance fibers such as glass and aramid. In this review study, the usability of carbon fibers as reinforcement material in composites were investigated, and the properties and use areas of carbon fiber reinforced composites were examined.