CONTINUOUS FIBER REINFORCED THERMOPLASTIC TUBES

摘要

Case study: The benefits of continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic tubes. An advanced thermoplastic composite bladder molding process can be utilized to convert a thermoplastic polymer, with glass and carbon fibers to form an engineered, high performance tube. This new category of material and processing brings tremendous benefits to applications that were traditionally bound by thermoset composites, and light weight metals. Some of the attributes that make this new material unique are its excellent impact toughness, good mechanical properties, and ease of recyclability. For composite parts to be optimized, the molding process, part geometry, and materials need to be taken into account. All three of these characteristics need to be reviewed simultaneously so that an optimum composite can be designed and molded. To accomplish this, the various forms of material that can be used in designing the fiber architecture of the tube are discussed along with the choice of available matrix materials (PP, PETG, PA, PPS, and PEEK), and part geometry. This molding process can accommodate both straight and curved tubes with varying cross sections. The specific applications that are discussed in this review uses a continuous fiber molding process to combine braided carbon fiber and Nylon 6 thermoplastic matrix (polyamide 6 – PA6) to manufacture very rugged tubes that are used in Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAV) and lacrosse shafts. Since UAV’s have a very high probability of having hard landings, the added toughness that comes from the thermoplastic matrix with braided carbon fiber greatly improves the life and survivability of the UAV. The second application that will be discussed is a lacrosse shaft. Lacrosse shafts benefits from the increased toughness that comes from the thermoplastic matrix. The details or philosophy on why this processing method was selected over alternate molding processes and materials will be discussed.