Tensile and Flexural Properties of Single Carbon Fibres

Polyacrylonitrile (PAN)and pitch-based carbon fibres are widely used as a reinforcement in composite materials such as carbon fibre reinforced plastics, carbon fibre reinforced ceramics, carbon-carbon composites and carbon fibre reinforced metals, because of their high specific strength and modulus. Such composites have become a dominant material in the aerospace, automotive and sporting goods industries [1-3]. Currently, carbon fibres are derived from several precursors, with polyacrylonitrile (PAN) being the predominant precursor used today. The physical and mechanical properties of carbon fibres vary according to the precursor material and heat treatment conditions. PAN-based carbon fibres generally have high strength, high modulus and low density (1.75-2.00 g/cm 3 ). Carbon fibres can also be made from pitch and pitchbased carbon fibres tend to have high modulus, high thermal and electrical conductivities [4]. Extensive work has been conducted to study the texture, morphology and mechanical properties of PANand pitch-based carbon fibres [5-7].