Effect of temperature on tensile properties of injection moulded short glass fibre and glass bead filled ABS hybrids

Abstract

The present study investigated the effect of temperature on tensile strength and modulus of injection moulded ABS polymer reinforced with both short fibres (GF) and spherical glass beads (GB) over the temperature range 25 to 100°C. Tensile strength, σh and modulus, Eh, of ABS/GF/GB hybrids increased as volume fraction of the total glass in the hybrids increased. A linear increase in σh and Eh was found with increasing the hybrid ratio of the glass fibre, χf, over the entire temperature range studied. Results indicated that the tensile properties of the ABS/GF/GB hybrid composites at any temperature, T, can be estimated from the rule-of-hybrid-mixtures of the form Ph = Pcfχf + Pcb(1 - χf) where Pcf and Pcb are the tensile properties of the ABS/GF and ABS/GB composites at temperature T, respectively. It was found also that σh and Eh both decrease with increasing temperature in a linear manner. The rate at which σh and Eh decreased with temperature was dependent upon the hybrid ratio of the glass fibre, χf, and the total concentration of the glass in the hybrids.