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.