Fiber reinforced nylon‐6 composites produced by the reaction injection pultrusion process

Abstract

Reaction injection pultrusion (RIP) combines the injection pultrusion process with reaction injection molding (RIM) techniques to yield one of the more novel methods of thermoplastic matrix pultrusion. An experimental set‐up was designed and built to pultrude nylon‐6 RIM material and continuous E‐glassfiber. Well‐impregnated nylon‐6 composites with 66.5, 68.8, 71.1, and 73.3 vol% fiber were produced. Internal temperature profile within the die was recorded during the process, and physical properties of resulting composites were measured. This paper presents results of the effect of fiber content, die temperature profile and pulling speed variations on internal temperature profile, monomer conversion, and physical properties. The study showed that increasing pulling speed lowered both peak temperature and monomer conversion. Higher die temperatures accelerated the reaction, resulting in a higher exotherm, a higher peak temperature, and a higher monomer conversion within the range investigated. Shear strength, flexual strength, flexual modulus, and transverse tensile strength were proportional to monomer conversion. Flexual modulus increased with higher fiber content within the range observed. Data allow the proper combination of die temperature profile and pulling speed to be selected to achieve a desired level of monomer conversion and physical properties. Results of this study provide basic information required for product design with nylon‐6 composites as well as tool design, selection of processing conditions, and quality control for the process.

Monitoring of nylon 6,6/carbon fiber composites processing by X‐ray diffraction and thermal analysis

“…Nylon 6,6 is a semicrystalline polyamidic polymer, with a melting point near 265°C. Its physicochemical and mechanical behaviors have allowed its use in several industrial areas, such as in aeronautics and space 16–18…”

Preparation and properties of polyamide‐6‐based thermoplastic laminate composites by a novel in‐mold polymerization technique

“…Modeling of all phenomena involved was presented aiming to the development of optimization strategies and engineering tools to control the process. Earlier study reported on a similar RIP process for the preparation of fiber‐reinforced APA6 . A series of articles disclosing RVI for manufacturing of PA6 glass fiber composites have demonstrated the potential of this technique for industrial application .…”

Compensation of Water Influence on Anionic Polymerization of ε-Caprolactam: 1. Chemistry and Experiments

“…High damage tolerance, good fatigue behavior, the possibility of functionalization, weldability and the recyclability of the components are the particular advantages of thermoplastic fiber composites (TPCs) compared to their thermoset counterparts [1][2][3][4]. TPCs can be processed by either using reactive processing of monomer melts or using melt impregnation with polymer melts (organosheets).…”