Materials Science Forum, Vol.475-479, 2047-2050, 2005
Effects of additional reinforcing fibers on the interface quality of SMA wire/epoxy composites
There are only limited ways to improve the interface bond strength of SMA wire reinforced composites. In this paper, the effect of the additional reinforcing fibers on the interface debond temperature of a TiNiCu wire reinforced epoxy matrix composite was studied. It was shown that the Kevlar fiber composite had a better interface between the TiNiCu wire and the epoxy matrix than that in the glass fiber composite. The negative thermal expansion coefficient of the Kevlar fibers were thought to be beneficial for relieving the thermal stresses at the SMA/epoxy interface. From this angle of view, the Kevlar fiber composites are better candidates as the matrix of the SMA composites than the glass fiber composites.