Electrical Characterization of Carbon Fiber Polymer Matrix Composites

This paper studies the response of carbon fiber polymer matrix composites subjected to DC electric currents. We have developed a new fully instrumented experimental setup that enables one to measure electric field characteristics (amperage, voltage, resistance) and temperature at the surface of the electrified composites in real time. The experimental procedure ensured a low contact resistance between the composite and electrodes, high uniformity in the density of the applied electric current, and low resistance heating. An extensive experimental study on the electrical characterization of carbon fiber polymer composites of different composition, ply sequence, thickness, etc. was conducted. The effect of the resistance heating was carefully analyzed through experimental analysis as well as the finite element modeling.