The Mechanical Properties of Polypropylene / Glass Fiber Composites Prepared Using Different Samples Preparation Methods
Abdul M. Ya’acob [a], Salit M. Sapuan* [b], Mansor Ahmad [a] and Khairul Z. M. Dahlan [c]* Author for corresponding; e-mail address: sapuan@eng.upm.edu.my
Volume: Vol.31 No.3 September 2004
Research Article
DOI:
Received: 2 Febuary 2004, Revised: -, Accepted: 24 August 2005, Published: -
Citation: Ya’acob A.M., Sapuan S.M., Ahmad M. and Dahlan K.Z.M., The Mechanical Properties of Polypropylene / Glass Fiber Composites Prepared Using Different Samples Preparation Methods, Chiang Mai Journal of Science, 2004; 31(3): 233-241.
Abstract
Experimental study was carried out to investigate the mechanical properties such as tensile strength and modulus of polypropylene/glass fiber composite materials prepared using injection molding and compression molding. In the initial stage the samples with 5, 10 and 15 wt % glass fiber loading were compounded using a single screw extruder before undergoing injection and compression molding process. Results show that the tensile strength decreased with the increasing of glass fiber loadings which are attributed to the absence of adhesion between polypropylene and electrical type glass (E-glass) due to the difference in polarity between polypropylene and the hydroxyl groups on the fiber surface. Tensile modulus increased with increasing of glass fiber loadings but the maximum value seemed to be very low, i.e. in the order of 500 MPa. In terms of fiber length, the samples prepared by using a 12 mm fiber showed higher tensile modulus and strength particularly at higher fiber loadings compared to samples prepared by using 3 mm or 6 mm fiber length but these results did not reveal anything significant because of the absence of adhesion between fiber surface and polypropylene matrix.