Processing and Testing of Reinforced PA66 Based Composites

The new requirements in different sectors, such as aerospace, automotive and construction, for lightweight materials have led to an increase in demand for composite materials suitable for use in high rate production processes, such as plastic injection. This makes it necessary to look for matrices and reinforcements that, in addition to being compatible with each other, are also compatible with the injection process. It is in this area of research where the work presented here arises. To meet the two requirements mentioned above, this study contemplates a battery of composite materials obtained by combining PA66 and fiberglass, in different proportions and configuration, both for the preparation of the matrix and for reinforcement. For the elaboration of the matrix, two options have been evaluated, PA66 and PA66 reinforced at 35% with short glass fibre. To obtain reinforcement, six different options have been evaluated; two conventional fiberglass fabrics (each with different density) and four hybrid fabrics obtained from the previous ones by adding PA66 in different configurations (two over-stitched fabrics and two other fabrics). The different composite materials obtained were validated by means of the corresponding adhesion, peeling and resistance tests.

Analysis of open-hole-tension plates made of short fibre thermoplastic and reinforced with continuous fibre tailored inserts

In the present paper, the influence of tailored load introduction inserts applied to a bolt-loaded open-hole injection plate with different short glass fibre content is investigated. The tailored load introduction inserts made with a Tailored Fibre Placement (TFP) process, as well as open-hole injection plates without an insert were considered as reference samples. The samples were tested under tensile bolt-loading. The influence of the TFP-inserts on the load bearing properties of the open-hole injection plates was investigated. The test results show a huge increase of the load-carrying ability of the short-glass-fibre specimens when TFP-inserts are integrated. Moreover, the damage tolerance was dramatically improved as the specimens with integrated TFP-inserts did not fail abruptly and a residual strength higher than the strength of the test specimen without insert could be observed. However, the strength of the test specimen with integrated insert did not exceed the strength of the insert itself in most cases.