Test methodInterfacial shear strength of carbon fiber reinforced polyphenylene sulfide measured by the microbond test

Interfacial micromechanical performance of carbon fiber (CF) reinforced polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) composite was studied by the microbond test. A novel homemade apparatus which is operated simply was employed and a different microsample preparation method was introduced. Comparative tests at various loading speeds were made to investigate the influence of testing rate on the interfacial shear strength of CF/PPS micro-composite. It was found that the interfacial shear strength increased with increasing fiber embedded length at speeds below 0.02 mm/s and above 0.04 mm/s, but it was constant between 0.02 and 0.04 mm/s. It is recommended to perform the microbond test in the test rate range of 0.02-0.04 mm/s, where the interfacial shear strength does not change with the embedded length and no significant deviations are observed, thus could better reflect the true interface strength of the composite.