Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers for High-dynamic Testing Machines

Main design objective of high-dynamic multiaxial testing machines is a high fundamental frequency. Carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP) offer outstanding weight-specific properties and high design freedom. They are thus a promising choice for the development of novel testing machines. This paper investigates the challenges which are decisive for a successful implementation of the FRP technology. In order to assess the potential of the approach, an optimized CFRP testing machine is compared to a state-of-the-art metal design. Significantly improved performance at comparable costs indicates that the CFRP technology is a valuable asset to the design of complex low volume special-purpose machines.