Enhancing mechanical properties of CFRP with oriented nickel plated short carbon fibers in a magnetic field

Abstract In this work, Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) flocked with oriented nickel plated short carbon fibers (Ni@SCFs) in a magnetic field was fabricated to investigate the effect of Ni@SCFs orientation on mechanical properties in CFRP. The interlaminar shear, mode I interlaminar fracture toughness (G IC ), tensile, and flexural properties of CFRP were investigated, and the mechanism of interlaminar failure in composites was analyzed. The results demonstrate that the incorporation of a small amount of oriented Ni@SCFs into adjacent layers significantly enhances the interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) and G IC of CFRP. Specifically, the ILSS of flocked composites with oriented Ni@SCFs increases by approximately 20% compared to non‐flocked composites. Additionally, the shear failure ductility of flocked composites also increases by 125%. The initiation and propagation G IC values exhibit increases of 56% and 68%, respectively. Moreover, it has been noted that the tensile and flexural properties of the composites incorporating oriented Ni@SCFs in this study exhibit a slight enhancement compared to their non‐flocked counterparts. The oriented Ni@SCFs play a pivotal role in mitigating crack propagation through the fiber bridging mechanism under the shear stress of the composite. Highlights Ni@SCFs are positioned at different vertical angles across successive layers. The orientated Ni@SCFs substantially boosts the ILSS and G IC . The tensile and flexural properties of CFRP exhibit a slight enhancement with orientated Ni@SCFs.