The behaviour of polyphenylene sulphide carbon/glass hybrid composites under compressive loading

The use of a high melting point thermoplastic matrix and the incorporation of more than one type of fibre reinforcement in a composite material has many attractions to the engineering designer. In this work interply composites of glass and carbon layers in a Polyphenylene Sulphide (PPS) matrix were manufactured by compression moulding. The behaviour under compressive loading of both uni and bidirectional hybrid was studied and the influence of stacking sequence and carbon/glass ratio investigated. The rule of mixtures was found to represent an upper bound prediction of compressive modulus irrespective of stacking sequence. The compressive strength and failure strain was found to be particularly dependent on the composition and orientation of the surface layer with positive and negative hybrid effects measured Laminate Theory was not able to accurately predict the properties of these hybrids.