Abstract
New materials, that possess high damping capabilities and high strength properties, have been studied in carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP). These materials are referred to in this article as CFRP/damping-material laminates. The CFRP/damping-material laminates investigated here are composed of a unidirectional carbon/epoxy prepreg sheet and a polyethylene based damping material sheet used as an interleaf. Cantilever beam tests revealed the high damping properties of these laminates. Loss factor values for these composites are 10 to 100 times as large as that for conventional CFRP. These values could be predicted by using the constrained layer damping theory, except for two specimens.
