Abstract
Until today, thermosetting polymer based composites were predominant, but are faced with environmental rules more stringent (COV, recyclability...). Thermoplastic composites are a good answer to the evolution of environmental rules, and have an increased need due to their improved properties compared to thermosets. One thermoplastic process route offered is the injection of monomers with a low viscosity (around 10mPa.s): Thermoplastic-Resin Transfer Molding (T-RTM). Currently, reactive thermoplastics are not technically matured for industrial applications. Indeed, their chemistry and rheology especially in the presence of fibers are not well studied and understood. The reaction time is the most crucial parameter for a well-controlled injection and the viscosity should stay low until full impregnation is achieved. The other point is the reaction kinetics. The faster the reaction, the more reaction heat is released in less time which results in overheating in the center of very thick parts. In a first approach the pure polymer is investigated. To better understand the reaction time during an injection process, rheological measurements were achieved at different shear rates and temperatures. In parallel, the reaction kinetics through the exothermic reaction during polymerization are modelled and experimentally verified.
Highlights
Until now, thermosetting polymer based composites were predominant, but are faced with environmental regulations, REACH restrictions on solvents, recycling, waste reduction
Many works have been done on these subjects [1,2,3,4,5], the RTM technology based reactive thermoplastic resins is still not enough mature to lead to industrial applications
Operating at polymerization temperatures below the melting temperature of the considered thermoplastic AP-Nylon®, there exists a strong competition between the polymerization kinetic and crystallization kinetic during injection into a thick heterogeneous and poorly conductive medium
Summary
Until now, thermosetting polymer based composites were predominant, but are faced with environmental regulations, REACH restrictions on solvents, recycling, waste reduction. All these drawbacks promote the use and the developments of composite materials based on thermoplastic which are polymers with a higher recycling capacity. Recent advances in the development and processing techniques of thermoplastic composites have increased their use in structural and semi-structural applications, the traditional domain of metal alloy or thermoset composites [1]. Many works have been done on these subjects [1,2,3,4,5], the RTM technology based reactive thermoplastic resins is still not enough mature to lead to industrial applications. A major difficulty in processing thermoplastic composites is to achieve cost-effective high quality impregnation of the fiber reinforcement by the matrix resin [6]
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