Paper to the 7th International Conference on Fibre Reinforced Composites, FRC’98, University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK, 15th-17th April 1998

Published by Woodhead Publ, Ed A G Gibson, pp 237-244, ISBN 1855 73 3757.

S F Bush with F G Torres and E S Erdogan

Abstract

The mechanical properties of discrete long glass fibre (LGF) reinforced polymer sheets have been studied pre and post thermoforming. Extruded sheets have been produced using different grades of PP and PE at different fibre concentrations. Novel fibre management devices have been employed in order to control fibre mat formation during sheet extrusion. Tensile and dynamic mechanical properties of the sheets are reported. In addition, thermoformability studies have been carried out by varying the processing parameters. The coherence of the reinforcing fibre mat has been observed before and after uniaxial and biaxial stretching in the thermoforming process. The operating temperature window for these materials has been defined.