Study of the decrease in print-through phenomenon on fiber-reinforced plastic material

Fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP) is a general kind of composite material used in many industries. This study examines the print-through phenomenon (PTP) via quantitative measurements on the gel-coated surface of FRP specimens. Moreover, finite element analysis is also adopted in this investigation. Based on a large number of experiments and computations, an average parameter, the arithmetic mean deviation is utilized to determine the degree of the PTP. Further, the reflections of a light image on a FRP surface were observed in photographs. Experimental results show that insulating residual stress can reduce PTP. Adding a core-mat layer to the FRP stacking scheme is a good solution for minimizing the PTP. In addition to using the core-mat materials, substitute materials used to prevent the PTP are also investigated.