DEVELOPMENT OF POLYETHER SULFONE TUBULAR FIBRE REINFORCED POLYPROPYLENE COMPOSITES AND THEIR RHEOLOGICAL PROPERTIES

摘要

This investigation is related to the development of novel composites by reinforcing randomly oriented tubular fibres of polyether sulfone (PES-tf) in isotactic polypropylene (PP) matrix. Volume fraction (#phi#) of PES-tf was varied and its effect on impact strength and rheological properties of composites has been studied. Impact strength improved with the addition of PES-tf. The apparent density of composites increased due to the collapsibility of PES-tf during molding process. Dynamic viscoelastic properties (DVP) of these composites vary with #phi# and test conditions. At low angular frequency, effect of fibre volume on dynamic viscosity, complex viscosity, and on complex rigidity is significant which reduces with increased angular frequency. Gap between cone and plate of rheometer is an important factor in determining the viscoelastic properties of the novel composites.