Fiber Length and Orientation in Long-Fiber Injection-Molded Thermoplastics. Part I: Modeling of Microstructure and Elastic Properties
This paper investigates the effects of fiber length and orientation distributions on the elastic properties of long-fiber injection-molded thermoplastics (LFTs). The corrected experimental fiber length distribution and the predicted and experimental orientation distributions were used in modeling to compute the elastic properties of the composite. First, from the fiber length distribution (FLD) data in terms of number of fibers versus fiber length, the probability density functions were built and used in the computation. Also, it has been shown that the two-parameter Weibull’s distribution can be used to represent the actual FLD. Next, the Mori-Tanaka model that employs the Eshelby’s equivalent inclusion method was applied to calculate the stiffness matrix of the aligned fiber composite containing the established FLD. The stiffness of the actual as-formed composite was then determined from the stiffness of the computed aligned fiber composite that was averaged over all possible orientations using the orientation averaging method. The methodology to predict the elastic properties of LFTs was validated via experimental verification of the longitudinal and transverse moduli determined for long glass fiber injection-molded polypropylene specimens. Finally, a sensitivity analysis was conducted to determine the effect of a variation of FLD on the composite elastic properties.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (US)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 937377
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-SA-55645; VT0505000
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Composite Materials, 42(10):1003-1029, Journal Name: Journal of Composite Materials, 42(10):1003-1029 Journal Issue: 10 Vol. 42
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
From Process Modeling to Elastic Property Prediction for Long-Fiber Injection-Molded Thermoplastics
Prediction of the Elastic-Plastic Stress/Strain Response for Injection-Molded Long-Fiber Thermoplastics