FORMATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF CARBON POLYCARBONATE TOWPREGS AND COMPOSITES/

A powder coating technique was used to produce carbon fiber towpregs w ith low fiber content. Unidirectional composites obtained from this ma terial were subjected to mechanical testing. The tensile strength of t he carbon fibers was determined from experimental data, using the Weib ull and log-normal distribution functions. The properties of the compo sites are comparable with those of a commercial Sheet Molding Compound (SMC), and could be predicted using the Classical Lamination Theory. It is shown that the tensile strength of the composites is more sensit ive than the modulus to processing derived defects.