Study on the impact of fiber length on the correlation of separation and orientation in flow molded glass fiber-reinforced plastic composites.

Abstract

During the compression molding of fiber-reinforced plastic composites, there are two issues: one is separation of fiber and matrix because of the different flow state and fiber orientation. Due to separation and orientation, moldings become nonhomogeneous, and show anisotropy. Therefore, separation and orientation should be closely corresponded to molding condition and fiber structure. If fiber shows strong agglomeration, it increases the separation, but fiber orientation will be limited. That is, separation and orientation of fiber is closely related, and the relationship should be clearly defined. In this study, fiber content and length is varied for stacked laminates, and primary sheet is fabricated with thermal compression press. Primary sheet is heated and molded with 30-ton hydraulic press. Nonhomogeneity, one of indicators for separation, is measured from one-dimensional rectangular plate after compression. Orientation function is calculated using X-ray image on moldings and image scanner for processing imagery data. From the correlation between the separation and the orientation of fiber and matrix, the correlation coefficient is defined, and the impact of fiber length on the coefficient is evaluated.