Invastigation of the mechanical and thermal behavior of plain weave carbon fiber reinforced silicone matrix composites

The aim of this study is to investigate the mechanical and thermal behavior of carbon fiber reinforced silicone matrix composites (CFRS-C), which is not a traditional polymer matrix composite. The reason for choosing silicone matrix is the high elastic deformation capability of silicone. This capability of aforementioned materials makes them particularly attractive in design of deployable systems utilized in aerospace industry. In the study, changes in mechanical behavior of manufactured materials during and after folding process were investigated. Uniaxial tensile tests applied to some of specimens were simulated with finite element analyses. Both after static and dynamic fold-deploy processes no visible damage were occured. Generally, four-layer composites succeeded less decrease from uniaxial tests applied after fold-deploy processes. It was detected from thermal tests that composite materials performed thermal resistance up to around 350 °C.