Study on interlayer properties of multilayer complex structures of graphene papers/harness satin weave glass fibers/epoxy reinforced composites with electric heating de‐icing

Abstract The graphene electrothermal de‐icing system has attracted extensive attention due to its efficient anti‐icing/de‐icing ability, but the interlayer properties of the heating layer are relatively weak. Currently, there is limited research on the interlayer properties of multilayer complex structures of graphene papers (GPs)/glass fibers (GFs)/epoxy (EP) reinforced resin composites (GPs/GE). In this study, a GPs/GE sandwich structure was prepared using a vacuum bag molding, and the effects of fabric structure and core material on the interlaminar mechanical properties of the sandwich structure were studied using the T‐peel test. A multiscale morphological investigation was conducted to analyze the crack growth and failure modes in the sandwich structures. The results indicated that the fabric structure caused anisotropy in the interlaminar peel performance of the composite material. The weft fibers contributed to inhibiting crack propagation. The GPs/GE achieved the highest peel strength of 0.533 N/mm under the (0,90) s layup configuration. The peel performance of GPs/GE was only 5.5% lower than that of conventional metal sandwich composite materials. In addition, GPs demonstrated the advantage of being lighter and thinner within the composite material. Through co‐curing bonding, the T‐peel performance of the GPs/GE sandwich structure was improved by 72.2%, thereby solving the problem of weak interlayer properties of the heating layer. Highlights Damage and failure mechanisms at different GPS/GE interfaces were explained. The fabric structure resulted in anisotropy in the peel performance of GPs/GE. The area ratio and arrangement of GPs influenced the stress distribution. GPs/GE exhibited excellent interlayer properties after co‐curing bonding.