MECHANICAL PROPERTIES AND ENERGYABSORPTION OF POWDER-IMPREGNATEDCONTINUOUS FIBER THERMOPLASTIC MATRIXCOMPOSITES

摘要

A novel process for manufacturing long fiber reinforced thermoplastic matrix compositesrnhas been developed. This process employs a combination of vacuum assisted resinrntransfer molding (VARTM) to create a powder-impregnated fiber preform andrncompression molding to consolidate the composite. The resulting laminate averages 64%rnfiber volume fraction with 3-5% void fraction. In this study, the mechanical properties ofrnthe laminate made from this process and its energy absorption ability are compared to arnfully filled baseline laminate made from the pre-impregnated material. It was found thatrnthe powder-impregnated materials had a lower performance in tension and compressionrnthan the baseline but were more effective at absorbing energy.