Compressive strength of carbon fiber reinforced epoxy composites with various carbon fiber cross section characteristics

Based on the demand of new generation advanced composites characterized by the balance of com-pressive and tensile strength, the compressive strength of carbon fiber/epoxy composites with various cross section characteristics of carbon fibers was studied by finite element simulation and experiment. Results show that the compressive strength of carbon fiber/epoxy composite increases with the increasing fiber diameter, and round is better than ellipse regarding to the fiber cross section shape.