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The properties of wet‐formed thermoplastic sheet composites
Author(s) -
Bigg D. M.,
Hiscock D. F.,
Preston J. R.,
Bradbury E. J.
Publication year - 1993
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.750140105
Subject(s) - materials science , composite material , polypropylene , flexural modulus , flexural strength , composite number , thermoplastic , glass fiber , izod impact strength test , modulus , ultimate tensile strength
Glass fiber reinforced thermoplastic matrix sheet composites of polypropylene and poly(ethylene terephalate) were produced in a two‐stage pilot scale impregnation and consolidation process. The first stage consisted of preparing wet‐formed mats of long, discontinuous fibers and polymer powder on an inclined wire paper‐making machine. The second stage consisted of consolidating approximately 15 wet‐formed mats into a solid composite laminate by the application of heat and pressure in a compression press. The resulting composites had a nominal glass content of 26 wt% (∼12 vol %). Flexural strengths as high as 108 MPa for polyproplene composites and 132 MPa for poly(ethylene terephthalate) composites were measured on specimens cut from stamped parts. The flexural modulus of the polypropylene compsites reached 5.4 Gpa, while the modulus of the stiffest poly(ethylene terephthalate) composite was 8.1 Gpa. The impact properties of the composites were equally good. Polyproplene compsites absorbed up to 62 J/cm during an instrumented falling dart impact test, while poly(ethylene terephthalate) composites absorbed as much as 32 J/cm during the same test.