Influence of Flow-Induced Polymorphism and Fiber Morphology on Mechanical Behavior in Long Discontinuous Glass Fiber Polyamide Composites

Abstract

This study investigates the combined flow-induced crystallization in the polymer and fiber reorientation during compression molding of a long discontinuous glass fiber polyamide (PA 6) composite. The composite is molded from an organosheet (a semi-finished pre-impregnated mat); the composite anisotropic tensile properties are evaluated as a function of polymer crystalline morphology and fiber orientation state, both controlled by the extent of material flow in the mold. To study these effects, the full mold coverage and partial center charge of organosheet (OS)-80 %, 60 %, 50 %, and 40 % were compression molded to cause varying anisotropic material flow. Tensile specimens were cut out from the molded plates in the flow and transverse direction and tested to compare their effective tensile properties (modulus and strength). The flow-induced morphological changes in a molded composite at the glass fiber bundle microstructure scale and polymer crystalline phases nano-structure were characterized using optical microscopy and X-ray diffraction, respectively. These morphological changes contributed to the significant change in the tensile strength and modulus; a combined experimental/numerical simulation framework was used to segregate the relative contribution of each factor. Experimentally, the tensile modulus increased in the flow direction from 9.6GPa to 14.9GPa for the specimens produced by full mold coverage and OS-50 % coverage mold, respectively. The tensile strength increased from 162 MPa to 254 MPa for the full and OS-60 % mold coverage. On the contrary, the strength and modulus in the transverse direction to the flow showed a significant drop to 35 MPa and 3GPa, respectively, which was attributed to reduced fiber alignment and anisotropy in the PA6 matrix.