Carbon fiber is one of the most successful fibers in over 30 years as a result of its high specific strength and modulus, good coefficient of thermal expansion, and its excellent fatigue, and corrosion resistance. From its early use in the military and aerospace applications, carbon fiber composites have become a good light weight replacement material in place of heavier materials like metals (such as steel and aluminum) without compromise on the required mechanical properties. Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) -based carbon fiber accounts for over 90% of the global demand today as a result of its superior tensile strength and light weight properties. As a good structural reinforcement material, the demand for this fiber continues to grow in high-end applications but is largely limited in industrial and commercial applications by its high cost; accrued from the procurement of the PAN precursor and its manufacturing costs (which involves pyrolysis at temperatures up to 3000° C supplied by a furnace based heating system). This current manufacturing system is characterized by energy losses and slow processing rates which make it inefficient. Also, the large facility requirement and high production costs contribute to the high cost of the fiber. Hence, more cost effective processing systems are desired in meeting the growing demand of this fiber. This research demonstrates the use of the laser as an alternative heat treatment source based on its fast and high energy generation capabilities. In this study, the CO2 continuous pulsed wave laser was employed due to its higher energy generation capabilities. As the laser beam radiated on the surface of the fiber, the energy produced from the laser beam caused the fiber's atoms to vibrate and restructure themselves along the direction of the laser scan. By varying the laser scan settings, changes in the structure of the laser treated low-grade carbon fibers were investigated with the aim of increasing the fibrilla orientation during the graphitization process. The laser treated fibers tested exhibited internal structural changes indicative of plausible structural alignment in the fiber. Lasers provide highly concentrated and localized energy at a high speed of operation. In understanding the process conditions, preliminary understudy of the interrelationship between the lasing parameters and structure of the treated fibers formed in this research were reported. This novel study provided more insight in the microstructure enhancement of carbon fiber possible with use of the laser during the carbon fiber manufacturing process. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering in partial fulfillment of the Master of Science. / Spring Semester 2017. / March 31, 2017. / Carbon fiber, Graphitization, Laser / Includes bibliographical references. / Mei Zhang, Professor Directing Thesis; Changchun Zeng, Committee Member; Tarik Dickens, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_507647 |
| Contributors | Daniels, Esther Osemudiamen (authoraut), Zhang, Mei (professor directing thesis), Zeng, Changchun (Chad) (committee member), Dickens, Tarik J. (committee member), Florida State University (degree granting institution), College of Engineering (degree granting college), Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering (degree granting departmentdgg) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text, master thesis |
| Format | 1 online resource (92 pages), computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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