Research Symposium

BIO

Vivian was born in Santiago, Dominican Republic, and came to the US when she was five years old. She is the oldest of three. From a very young age, she demonstrated a great devotion to the sciences, which led her to choose a career in biomedical engineering. She is a very curious person with a great passion for learning new things. When not in the lab, Vivian can be found reading, playing dominoes, or tormenting her younger sister, but all in love. Nonetheless, she is an inspiration for her younger sister, who has chosen to follow in Vivian's footsteps and pursue a degree in engineering. Vivian has spent the last two years at the High-Performance Materials Institute, focusing on characterizing composite materials.

Mechanical Characterization of Hand-Layup Carbon Fiber Reinforced Epoxy Composites for Automotive Applications

Abstract

As the automotive industry persistently strives to improve performance and efficiency, the demand for lightweight advanced composite materials that can endure the rigors of life continues to grow. Carbon fiber composites stand out as a promising solution due to their exceptional lightweight and mechanical properties. This project delves into the mechanical characterization of different carbon fiber composites to evaluate their suitability for automotive applications, aiming to provide valuable insights into their performance by analyzing various mechanical properties, such as flexural strength, shear strength, and elastic modulus. Our research will focus on manufacturing these composites utilizing hand-layup methods, then examining by C-scan analysis to assess the quality of the resultant composites, followed by conducting Three-Point Bend and Short Beam Shear tests in accordance with ASTM standards.

Keywords: Carbon Fiber Composites, Material Characterization, Flexural strength, Shear strength