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Flow induced fiber orientation in compression molded glass mat thermoplastics
Author(s) -
Nilsson Greger,
Ericson Mats L.,
Anders Holmberg J.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
polymer composites
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.577
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1548-0569
pISSN - 0272-8397
DOI - 10.1002/pc.10254
Subject(s) - materials science , composite material , fiber , ultimate tensile strength , compression molding , compression (physics) , glass fiber , flow (mathematics) , modulus , molding (decorative) , mold , mathematics , geometry
This study examines how the mechanical properties in GMT are affected by axisymmetric flow during compression molding. Two types of GMT with different architecture are used, swirled mat and short fiber GMT. Tree different grades are tested for each fiber architecture 20, 30, and 40% fiber content by weight. These are in principle the grades of GMT commercially available today. It is found that the flow reduced the tensile strength by 30 to 50% and the tensile modulus up to 30% in the flow direction. The reduction in mechanical properties, which is mainly caused by flow‐induced fiber orientation, is larger at high fiber contents. The study also showed that there is no major difference in behavior between swirled mat and short fiber GMT regarding flow induced fiber orientation.