The self-developed carbon fiber spreading equipment was used to prepare spreading carbon fiber (SCF) prepregs with spreading ratios of 2 and 5. The SCF composite laminates were prepared through a hot pressing process. The geometric dimensions of the SCF prepreg tape were characterized from various perspectives

including the spreading ratio

areal density

and thickness. The super-depth microscope was used to investigate the influence of the geometric dimensions of SCF unidirectional prepreg tapes on fiber arrangement defects and surface morphology. Additionally

the wettability of the fiber tapes and the resin impregnation rate were studied. The micromorphology of SCF composite laminates and their fracture morphology under tensile loading were analyzed using SEM. The results indicate that when the fiber spreading ratio increases from 2 to 5

the fiber width expands from 10 mm to 20 mm. At higher spreading ratios

the fibers are largely parallel to each other

with fewer instances of fiber misalignment or slippage; The surface energy of the SCF unidirectional prepreg tape increases

and the resin impregnation rate of the fibers also improves accordingly. The tensile strength of the SCF composite laminate increased by 18.7% at high spreading ratios. The microscopic morphology showed less fiber pullout

a regular tensile fracture surface

and no significant delamination between the fiber layers and the resin.