Fabrication and machining of fiber reinforced thermoplastic composites

Abstract

Rapid advancement in engineering field and increasing demand for composite materials leads to extensive research and innovation in material science. Polymer Matrix Composites (PMCs) have proved to be a more promising material in composite materials due to their excellent engineering properties. In recent years, numerous PMC research specifically focus on developing new fabrication methods and improving their machinability characteristics. PMCs are very popular due to their low cost and simple fabrication methods and also possess superior strength, hardness and thermal properties compared to conventional plastics. The most common types of reinforcement used for PMC are strong and brittle fibers incorporated into a soft and ductile polymeric matrix. Hence, PMCs are generally referred to as Fiber Reinforced Plastics (FRP). FRP composites have been consistently replacing metals in various engineering applications. The Fiber Reinforced Thermoplastics (FRTP) can be developed using thermoplastic matrix material. Although polymer matrix composites are fabricated by different methods, film stacking technique proves to be one of the most promising fabrication techniques especially for FRTP composite materials. In this experimental investigation, two types of FRTP composites such as Glass Fiber Reinforced Polypropylene (GFR-PP) and Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polypropylene (CFR-PP) with 200 GSM (Gram per Square Metre) of fibers and with 100 GSM of polypropylene film were fabricated using hot compression moulding machine by film stacking technique. The fabricated laminates were tested for physical and mechanical properties as per the relevant ASTM standards. newline newline newline