From left: Hyeong-beom Park (Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Incheon National University), Hoang Quang Ninh (Integrated Master’s and Ph.D. Program Student, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Incheon National University), Seong-ho Lee (Ph.D., RAMP Convergence Research Center, Korea Institute of Science and Technology [KIST]), and So-ra Lee (Postdoctoral Researcher, KIST)

A joint research team led by Professor Hyeong-beom Park from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Incheon National University (President In-jae Lee) and Dr. Seong-ho Lee’s research group from the RAMP Convergence Research Center at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST, President Sang-rok Oh) has successfully identified the anisotropic interfacial properties of carbon fibers depending on their manufacturing process and developed a quantitative evaluation methodology through computational mechanics.

The research team was the first to introduce atomic force microscopy (AFM) images of actual carbon fiber surface topography directly into finite element simulations, thereby establishing a novel modeling approach capable of systematically analyzing interfacial behaviors in the longitudinal, transverse, and normal directions of the fiber. These interfacial behaviors play a critical role in determining the physical properties of composite materials, yet are difficult to evaluate through conventional experiments. The study revealed the complex interplay between mechanical interlocking caused by anisotropic surface roughness and interfacial chemical interactions, providing new insights for the design of structural composites.

The joint research team described their achievement as “a practical methodology for evaluating the interfacial properties of carbon fibers in composites using computational mechanics.” They emphasized that the results “offer a clear direction for developing stronger and more reliable composite materials,” adding that “understanding the complex interactions among process, structure, and property opens new opportunities for optimized design and processing strategies in composite applications.”

This research was supported by the Ministry of Science and ICT (Minister Kyung-hoon Bae) under the KIST Convergence Research Center Program (CRC23013-000) and the Nano and Materials Technology Development Program (2021M3H4A1A0304129), as well as by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (Minister Jung-kwan Kim) through the R&D Projects RS-2024-00431920 and RS-2025-19002973.

The team’s papers — “Characterization of CFRP Interface Properties with Varying Fiber Surface Roughness Using AFM Measurements and Finite Element Modeling” and “Effect of Plasma Modification on the Anisotropic Surface Structure of PAN-based Graphitic Carbon Fiber” — were published in the prestigious journals Composites Part B: Engineering (Impact Factor 14.2, 2024 JCR Top 0.3%) in January 2026 (Vol. 308) and Carbon (Impact Factor 11.6, 2024 JCR Top 10.1%) in July 2025 (Vol. 242), respectively.