SYNOPSISThe recent high demand of thermoplastic composites has induced an extensive experimentation and utilization of polyamides as thermoplastic sheet composites. The hand layup technique was used for the preparation of the glass fiber polyamide composites studied here. The percentage crystallinity of the composites was determined with a variety of techniques such as differential thermal analysis (DTA) , wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) patterns, and density measurements. Glass transitions ( T8) and melting temperatures (T,) were determined with DTA and dynamic mechanical thermal analyzer ( DMTA) measurements. Finally, the mechanical properties ( stress-strain curves and compression tests) were investigated and the results were correlated to the glass fiber content, the void content, and the percentage of the comnomer unit (caprolactam and laurolactam) in the polyamide composite. 0 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
INTRODUCTIONThe currently predominant matrix resins for composites continue to be the thermosetting polymers due to their low viscosity (especially in the liquid state) and their facile impregnation into the fiber bundle before the occurrence of curing.',' However, a number of arising disadvantages connected to the production of thermosetting composite resins such as the limited shelf life of the polymers, variation of composite properties, Iong curing times, limited recyclability, and inadequate impact properties have recently oriented more research work toward the utilization of the thermoplastic c0mposites.2,~The following methods have been used for the production of thermoplastic long-and short-fiber composites: extrusion, solvent impregnation, ' hand l a y~p ,~ film stacking, melt fluidized impregnation of expanded fiber bundles,' deposition of a polymer powder/fiber mixture from a water-* To whom correspondence should be addressed at Osaka National Research Institute, AIST, Functional Polymer Section, 1- Midorigaoka, Ikeda, 563 Osaka, Japan.Journal of Applied Polymer Science, Vol. 51. 1883-1899 (1994) The present article investigates the effect of introducing short glass fibers in a series of (co)polyamides (nylon G/nylon 12). Previous studies in the field of glass/carbon fiber thermoplastic polyamide composites were focused mainly on homopolyamides such as nylon 6, l7,l8 nylon 11, l9 nylon 12, 16719 nylon 6.10, 19,20 and blends of the latter with polycarbonate,'l*'' which are the most common engineering plastics.The applicability of this study lies in the growing interest in the use of thermoplastic matrices such as polyphenylene sulfide ( PPS ) 23 and p~lyamides'~ or, generally, semicrystalline thermoplastic polymers" for the preparation of composite materials. The advantages of using the semicrystalline, thermoplastic (co ) polyamides over the thermosets as matrices consist of a.the possibility of controlling their percentage crystallinity in order to "
EXPERIMENTAL
MaterialsThe homopolyamides (nylon 6 and nylon 12) and the (co)polyamides CL/LL (mol/mol 75/25, 501 50, and 25/75) (where C...