Structural Applications of Long Fiber Thermoplastic Composites

摘要

The objective of the research effort in this paper is to develop thermoplastic composite materials and product forms and to demonstrate fabrication methods for molding thermoplastic composite materials into components for use in buses and other mass transit applications. Thermoplastic composites technologies possess the potential to provide lower cost, lighter weight, and improved performance structures for mass transit applications. The demonstration components selected for this project was a battery access door for the 60 BRT bus. A battery box access door of a mass transit bus was manufactured from polypropylene/E-glass long fiber thermoplastics (LFT) using the extrusion-compression molding process. The composite door met or exceeded all the design requirements of the steel door, with a 60% reduction in weight and 44% cost saving. Mechanical tests conducted on the door showed excellent correlation with respect to the results of the finite element model during design and analysis. Mold flow and fiber orientation were accurately predicted using a process modeling software when compared to trials during actual production.