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Does the "polymer" in CFRP directly and unambiguously imply the use of an epoxy resin?

aerodokuu
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  • Glass fibre often uses a polyester resin so I see no fundamental reason why carbon can't do the same. (Seems like a waste of carbon fibre though) – user_1818839 Jan 25 '17 at 22:29
  • CFRP actually is an abbreviation of Carbon Fibre Reinforced Plastic – Donald Gibson Jan 25 '17 at 23:24
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    Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer is a more accurate rendering than ...Plastic, since the stuff in question is always a polymer, but is practically never thermoplastic, and need not be plastic in any respect. – achrn Jan 27 '17 at 16:02
  • Off: @Wasabi this was your 1000. first-post review. With it, you have the first steward badge of the site. – peterh Jan 27 '17 at 23:23

1 Answers1

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No.

You could use other polymers. Polyesters, vinylesters, and epoxies are all common in fibre-polymer composites and could be used. You can also use other special stuff if you need, eg, fire performance.

Epoxies are common because if you're using carbon fibres (rather than a variety of glass) you are evidently looking for a high performance component. Of the commonly used polymers, epoxy is the family at the high performance end of the range. Epoxies typically out-perform other resins both in mechanical properties terms and in environmental degradation.

achrn
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  • There is one caution: not all epoxies bond readily to carbon fiber sizing. Carbon fiber laminates are notorious for delaminations in impact situations with common epoxies used with glass fibers. If impact resistance is required, the epoxy should be chosen judiciously. +1 – do-the-thing-please Jan 27 '17 at 20:46
  • The question 'does all CFRP use epoxy', certainly should not be taken as being equivalent to 'are all epoxies used in CFRP', but I don't think that was the intent of the question. – achrn Jan 28 '17 at 22:06