IMPACT BEHAVIOR OF LONG FIBER THERMOPLASTIC (LFT)COMPOSITES

摘要

Long Fiber Thermoplastics (LFT) with polypropylene (PP) matrix with varying percentage of glass fiberis increasingly being used in the automotive sector as underbody shields and side panels. LFT in thiswork are classified as materials with fiber lengths of 25-50 mm. The LFT parts used in transportationapplications are susceptible to blunt object impact (BOI) such flying debris, stones/rocks and tool drops.These effects are of great concern, although not well studied. There are currently no standard test methodsthat address impact threats from such common phenomena such as BOI. Traditional impact data forthermoplastics is generated by the notched-Izod impact test, which does not correlate to common impactssuch as BOI. In the present study, impact damage resistance of extrusion-compression molded LFT - PPis assessed for its damage and energy absorption characteristics by a gas-gun impactor. The compressionmoldedpanels are manufactured from LFT pellets. The compression molding process creates preferentialfiber orientation of the long fibers. This paper presents results on BOI damage to LFT glass/PP panels.The damage response, energy absorption characteristics and damage modes of the LFT panels areinvestigated.