MECHANICAL-PROPERTIES OF CARBON-FIBER-REINFORCED PLASTICS AND THEIR RESPONSE TO A RADIATION ENVIRONMENT

''TORAYCA T300 3K'' is a two and a half dimensional woven carbon fiber reinforced epoxy which was developed for various applications includi ng cryogenics. ''Scaling'' experiments in tension, in the shear-mode ( mode II) and in the crack-opening-mode (mode I) were made at room and low temperature, in order to establish suitable sample geometries for irradiation experiments. Moreover, the interlaminar and the intralamin ar shear strength as well as the ultimate tensile strength were invest igated after irradiation at 340 K with a reactor spectrum up to a fast neutron fluence of 5 x 10(22) m(-2) (E>0.1 MeV). The irradiated mater ial was measured at 77 K and acoustic emission (AE) investigations wer e made for the tensile and the mode II samples. (C) 1997 Elsevier Scie nce Limited.