Mechanical properties of unidirectional continuous carbon fiber reinforced sheet molding compounds

The integration of unidirectional carbon fiber fabrics in the sheet molding compound (SMC) technology offers a novel approach to manufacture carbon fiber prepregs in an economic way. Within this work, unidirectional carbon fiber SMC based on an unsaturated polyester-polyurethane hybrid (UPPH) resin system were manufactured with an adapted process and compression molded to sheets. For the mechanical characterization tensile and compression tests were implemented. Mechanical characterization shows that the presented manufacturing route for unidirectional carbon fiber reinforced sheets leads to a material with comparable elastic moduli in tension and compression as well as tensile strength comparable to epoxy based prepreg materials with the advantage of a more economic manufacturing process.