NEW SOLUTIONS FOR THE RECYCLING OF CFRP COMPOSITES

In order to significantly improve the life cycle assessment of CFRP components, it would be necessary for the continuous fibers produced with high energy input to be recovered and used again in a high-quality composite material, e.g. for aerospace applications. Therefore, the aim of the present work was to recycle current production waste from fiber composite manufacturing in the aircraft industry and to use it again in a reasonable way in aviation products. An innovative semi-finished product in form of a prepreg with phenolic resin was developed from the recovered recycled fiber and subsequently used as a layer material for a sandwich structure. The rCF prepreg was processed via hot pressing and then mechanically characterized. The results are very close to the desired range and in some cases exceed the values of the reference material, a glass fiber phenolic resin prepreg used as standard.