Towpreg-Based Thermoplastic Composites for Electromagnetic Shielding

Abstract

Thermoplastic composites have gained significant application in the domestic, medical, defence, aviation and other industries. To develop the conductive fibre composites, towpregs and hybrid yarn have been made by incorporating carbon, stainless steel (SS), glass and other fibres. The composites reinforced with conductive hybrid yarns are fabricated and their shielding effectiveness are investigated for varying reinforcement structures. The preparation of towpregs and hybrid yarn structure enables them to blend the conductive fibres in different proportions. In this chapter, various methods of developing the conductive hybrid yarns and routes to blend the fibres have been discussed. The mechanism of developing the towpreg-based composite structure for electromagnetic shielding applications is also reported in this chapter. The method of assessing the shielding effectiveness of planar materials using coaxial transmission line methods has been also discussed.