BLUNT OBJECT IMPACT DAMAGE RESISTANCE OF LONG FIBER THERMOPLASTIC (LFT) COMPOSITES

摘要

The use of thermoplastic composites has steadily increased in the transportation sector, including mass transit and automotive industry, as a result of progress in new materials and processing technologies. Long Fiber Thermoplastics (LFT) with polypropylene (PP) and nylon matrices with varying percentage of glass fiber are increasingly being used in the automotive sector. As many of these thermoplastic materials are used as structural members, their susceptibility to low velocity impact (LVI) and blunt object impact (BOI) such flying debris, stones/rocks, tool drops is a matter of great concern, although seldom studied. There currently are no standard test methods that address impact threats from such common phenomena. Traditional impact data for thermoplastics are generated by the notched-Izod impact test, which does not correlate to common impact dangers. The impact damage resistance of extrusion-compression molded LFT -PP is assessed for its damage and energy absorption characteristics by gas-gun and low velocity tool drop impactors in the current study. The compression-molded panels are manufactured from LFT pellets. This paper presents results on LVI and BOI pertaining to LFT glass/PP panels. The damage response, energy absorption characteristics and damage modes of the LFT panels are investigated.