Characterization of Powder Coated Thermoplastic Composite.

摘要

Thermoplastic powder resin preforms are a relatively new form of composite preform material. Powder preforms offer improved handelability as well as the possibility to produce composites from resins that are difficult to prepreg. The purpose of this project was to characterize thermoplastic powder coated material. A Poly ether ether ketone (PEEK) resin coated material supplied by BASF was studied. The physical properties of the preform were characterized through electron microscopy and thermal analysis. Electron microscopy was used to determine the size and distribution of the powder particles along with the amount of binder in the preform. Thermal analysis DSC and TGA were used to determine the melting point and the amount of binder in the preform. In addition the resin content was measured using acid digestion. The resulting understanding of the material properties will provide a basis for developing process models and implementing this material in a production process.