A Quantified Comparison of Commercial CF-LMPAEK Tapes

Abstract

Many commercial grades of CF-LMPAEK prepreg are available in the current market, with new versions constantly being developed to respond to new needs in the field of highthroughput manufacturing for aerospace applications. However, the information supplied by the manufacturer of a given prepreg may include assumptions, oversights, or even errors, with the degree of these uncertainties compounding and making the continuity and comparability of two CF-LMPAEK prepregs from two different sources dubious at best. In this work, a total of six versions of CF-LMPAEK are investigated using continuous and localised measurement techniques, using large databases to draw conclusions around critical material properties such as width, thickness, and fibre mass content. It is found that almost all available prepregs yield a median width value above the target, with the 95% confidence interval of the respective prepregs having little to no overlap with one another, thus limiting interchangeability. The thickness and fibre mass content are also far from consistent amongst prepregs, increasing the number of uncertainties when attempting to transfer experience acquired with a given product to a new one.