Comparison of Real and Simulated Fiber Orientations in Injection Molded Short Glass Fiber Reinforced Polyamide by X‑ray Microtomography

During injection molding of short glass fiber reinforced composites, a complex structure is formed due to the fiber movement. The resulting fiber orientation can be predicted using various simulation models. However, the models are known to have inadequacies andthe influence of process and model parameters is not clearly and comprehensively described. In this study, the aforementioned model and process parameters are investigated to determine the dependencies of the individual influences on the real and simulated fiber orientation. For this purpose, specimens are injection molded at different process parameters. Representative regions of the specimens are measured using X-ray microtomography and dynamic image analysis to determine the geometric properties of the fibers as well as their orientations. Furthermore, simulations are performed with the simulation software Moldflow® using different mesh types and densities as well as varying parameters of the MRD model to represent the real fiber orientations. The results show that different orientation areas arise in the samples, which cannot be represented with a simulation varying only one parameter. Several simulations must be carried out in order to represent flow regions occurring in the specimen as realistically as possible.

Effect of short glass fiber on shear capacity for shallow wide reinforced concrete beams

Shallow wide reinforced concrete beams are used in modern buildings especially in residential building structures. According to current Egyptian Code Practice 203-2018; the characteristic of a shallow wide concrete beam is that the cross-section width (b) over the effective depth (d) ratio is greater than two and the beam depth is less than 250 mm. Without any shear reinforcing contribution, the applied shear stresses in shallow wide beams must be less than the concrete shear strength. And only concrete provides shear strength. An experimental program was conducted to investigate the contribution of short glass fiber polymer reinforcement to shear strength in shallow wide beams under shear stress. The short glass fiber polymer reinforcement ratio was the main parameter in this study. And also, the contribution of web shear stirrups reinforces against shear stresses. The experimental program consisted of five simply supported reinforced shallow wide concrete beams. Test results show that the use of short glass fiber reinforced polymer has a great effect on shear strength capacity, mode of failure, and ductility of shallow wide concrete beams.

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.

On short glass fiber reinforced thermoplastics with high fiber orientation and the influence of surface roughness on mechanical parameters

Injection molding is a common process for manufacturing thermoplastic polymers. Preconnected to fabrication, mechanically loaded parts are examined in structural simulation. A crucial prerequisite for a valid structural simulation for any material is the underlying material data. To determine this data, different phenomena must be considered such as influences of load type, strain rate, environmental conditions and in case of fiber reinforced materials the fiber orientation (FO) in the considered area. Because of rheological effects, injection molded parts often possess a non-homogeneous FO distribution. This makes it challenging to create testing plates for specimen extraction with a well-defined FO over thickness and width in the considered area. In this paper, a novel testing part is introduced with an unidirectionally oriented testable area. It shows a FO degree of more than 0.75, which has been validated with μ-CT measurement and two thermoplastic materials: polyamide and polybutylene terephthalate, both reinforced with 30 weight percent of short glass fibers. In order to resolve influences of the already addressed FO distribution in injection molded parts, tensile test specimens need to be extracted out of specially designed plates via milling and cannot be injection molded directly. Experiments were carried out to study possible effects of preparation on the mechanical properties of specimens with both materials and two milling parameter sets. The first milling parameter set creates reproducible surface roughnesses, whereas the second parameter set shows a correlation between FO and roughness value: when milling perpendicularly to the main FO lower roughnesses are reached than milling in fiber direction. Uncertainties of the normalized rupture strain from orthogonally extracted specimens seem to be larger than the values from those extracted in fiber direction.

Development and verification of mechanical characteristics of a composite material made of a thermoplastic matrix and short glass fibers

The paper presents the results of computer modeling and prediction of the mechanical properties of composite materials with a polycarbonate matrix filled with short glass inclusions. At the micro-level, the influence of the volume of inclusions on the mechanical properties of the designed composite based on polycarbonate matrix is studied in the DIGIMAT (France) program. It was found that with a ratio of the sizes of inclusions in the range of 468÷60, the particles have a needle shape, and the material with such inclusions has a higher stress limit and elastic modulus than with a shape coefficient less than 50. The components of the fiber orientation tensor were also determined, at which the values of computer modeling are in good agreement with experimental data. The influence of the size of the finite element grid on the characteristics of the composite at the macro level was studied, and recommendations were given for choosing the size of the face of the finite element. The adequacy of computer models was confirmed by the results of field tests. The paper presents the results of testing flat samples made by injection molding technology. Mechanical tests were carried out for three variants of samples made of composite material based on a polycarbonate matrix with 10 %, 20 % and 30 % inclusions. The discrepancy between the experimental and computer results for samples with 10 %, 20 % content of short chopped fibers is explained by the influence of technological factors on the properties of the material at the macro-level. The conducted research allowed us to develop a computer modeling technique used at the stage of development of polymer composites based on thermoplastic matrices with short glass inclusions

Processing and Testing of a Novel Superstructural Material

The need to develop novel lightweight materials and their manufacturing processes is sets out to meet the new aerospace, automotive and construction requirements. Within this context, this research work is proposed to develop a novel thermoplastic composite material with high mechanical properties. These composites will be based on thermoplastic matrixes made from polyamide and 35% short glass fiber filled-polyamide reinforced with different types of fabrics. As reinforcement, glass fiber fabrics will be used as the base. They will be treated with different processes, both chemical and physical, to promote adherence to the matrix. Textile overmoulding technology was selected for manufacturing these composites. This technology was primarily developed to manufacture aesthetic lined components and has achieved a great implantation. Once these new composites are manufactured, they will be submitted to different tests to evaluate their behavior regarding adhesion, impact strength and stiffness. It is expected an improvement on stiffness and impact absorption.