Temperature effect on the mechanical properties of GF/pCBT and its nanosilica-modified composites

Abstract

Glass fiber/polymerized cyclic butylene terephthalate (GF/pCBT) and its nanosilica-modified thermoplastic composites were manufactured via vacuum-assisted molding pressing process. Subsequently, the effects of temperature and nanosilica fillers on the macroscopic mechanical behavior of glass fiber-reinforced pCBT composites were discussed. Failure morphologies of specimens were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Experimental results show that pure GF/pCBT composites have good mechanical properties, whereas their half-strength degradation temperature ( TS = 0.5) is relatively lower. It is also found that nanosilica-modified composites have higher heat resistance performance, and TS = 0.5 point of the modified composites enhanced by 10°C. SEM observations show that the smooth fracture surface in the broken composites appears at higher temperatures, which indicates that the toughness of nanosilica-modified GF/pCBT composites is improved.