Effect of Temperature on the Mechanical Properties and Polymerization Kinetics of Polyamide-6 Composites

Abstract

This work reports the preparation of carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic composites via the in situ anionic ring opening polymerization of ε-caprolactam. Vacuum assisted resin transfer molding was used to fabricate polyamide-6/carbon fiber composites at different molding temperatures. As a result, the higher polymerization of ε-caprolactam was observed with the condition at 140 °C for satisfactory impregnation. Regarding molding temperature, the physical properties of polyamide-6/carbon fiber were observed that the bending and impact strengths at 140 °C were higher than those to at other molding temperatures. The polymerization kinetics of polyamide-6 was analyzed using differential scanning calorimetry by experimentally acquiring kinetic parameters according to model fitting approaches. Polymerization and crystallization, which occur simultaneously throughout the whole process, were separated using Gaussian and Maxwell–Boltzmann distributions to study polymerization kinetics. The result of the developed model was in good agreement with the experimental data for the presented first order autocatalytic reaction model.

Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Polyamide 6 Composites Formed by In Situ Polymerization—Experimental and Numerical Analysis of the Influence of Polymerization Temperature

“…Overall, the sample molded at 140 °C had superior properties. The higher tensile and bending strengths of the sample molded at 140 • C indicate a relatively large degree of polymerization and crystallization at this temperature, as deduced from our previous study on the effect of temperature on the polymerization and crystallization of PA 6 [28]. Overall, the sample molded at 140 • C had superior properties.…”

“…A 180 × 180 mm 2 sized rectangular mold and 1200 × 1700 mm 2 sized automotive part (hood) mold were considered for the mold filling process. From our previous research [28], the experimentally determined time-dependent viscosity of caprolactam was employed, and the critical processing time for ε-caprolactam was defined as 20 s. A numerical analysis was performed with four different temperature conditions: 140, 160, 180, and 200 • C, where a difference in the filling behavior with the processing time was expected based on the difference in the viscosity of the resin. The inlet pressure was set to 0.85 bar, and the outlet pressure was atmospheric pressure for all cases.…”

Recent advances in the use of Polyamide-based materials for the automotive industry

“…PA6/CF composites manufactured via vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM) were analyzed by Li et al [59] with different molding temperatures. As preliminary results, it is observed that the satisfactory temperature for impregnation of the material is 140ºC.…”

The Effect of Fiber-Adhesive Composite on Bond Strength of Plastic Plates- Part IV: The Effect of Temperature on the Mechanical Behavior and Mechanical Properties

“…M.Xian et al, studied the effect of temperature on the mechanical properties and polymerization kinetics of polyamide-6 composites , from the experimental and modeling results, it can be concluded that the optimal temperature for polymerization is 140-160 •C, and the molding process must be finished within 20 second regardless of the shapes and sizes of the samples [22].…”