EFFECT OF CONSOLIDATION DEGREE N THE FAILURE GENERATED ACOUSTIC EMISSION RESPONSE OF DISCONTINUOUS GLASS FIBRE MAT-REINFORCED POLYPROPYLENES

摘要

The failure behaviour of partially and fully consolidated discontinuous glass fibre (GF) mat-reinforced thermoplastic polypropylene (GMT-PP) of various densities but with the same GF content was studied using the acoustic emission (AE) technique. The AE amplitude histograms were used to trace changes in the failure mode versus loading history and consolidation degree. AE amplitudes were clustered in three groups representing fibre debonding, pull-out and fracture events the occurrence of which was substantiated by fractografic inspection.