Processability and properties of continuous glass fiber reinforced extruded thermoplastic foam sandwich composites

摘要

This study presents a sandwich panel, featuring continuous fiber reinforced extruded thermoplastic foam, to assess its processability, properties, and possibility of replacing natural wood. The continuous glass fiber thermoplastic prepreg is embedded within the upper and bottom foamed core layers, subsequently forming a high stiffness sandwiched structure panel. A low density with high stiffness plastic lumber is obtained, by controlling the foaming density and enhancing the interfaces between the glass fiber and foamed core. Scanning electron microscopy and ultrasonic C-scanning are employed to characterize prepreg quality optical microscopy is also used to assess the sandwich quality. Mechanical properties are also tested and compared with those of natural wood. Experimental results demosntrate that the fiber reinforced extruded thermoplastic foam sandwich offers enhanced impact resistance, stiffness and ease of processability. those characteristics make fiber reinfoced thermoplastic foamed sandwich an excellent wood-replacement candidate for structural applications.