Robust graphene treatment of fibre for functionalised composites in defence applications

Important results from the project

The project has verified the use of graphene treated fiber for manufacturing of functionalized composite. The test results show that composite functionality can be tailored by varying of graphene material and treatment process. The robustness of graphene treatment process has been improved through the optimization of parameters. Further improvement on graphene material- and treatment process control can enable this material to fulfil a high requirement for aerospace defense application.

Expected long term effects

In a long-term, the project is expected to achieve a robust graphene treatment process that can reproduce graphene treated fiber material for manufacturing of composite material with reliable integrated functional properties. The further works on graphene material- and treatment process control for improvement of graphene treatment process robustness aiming to meet aerospace material standard can enable the use of this graphene treated reinforcement fabric in aerospace defense application.

Approach and implementation

The project was carried out using the iterative test flow to verify, optimize and investigate the robustness of graphene treatment and lamination process. Eight test iterations with statistical experiments were performed. The results revealed which process parameters qualitatively influence the robustness of the end functionality result. The test strategies were devised to assess the governing parameters and their influence on process robustness and functionality of the graphene treated fiber.