Volume 8, Issue 1, 1999

On Consolidation Of Powder Impregnated / Sheath Surrounded Thermoplastic Composite Bundles

F. Haupert, J. Krebs and K. Friedrich

Institute for Composite Materials Ltd., University of Kaiserslautern, Erwin Schroedingerstrase 58, 67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany

ABSTRACT

Processing of composite materials with thermoplastic matrices is very complicated due to the high viscosity of the matrix material. Therefore, the impregnation parameters have to be investigated in order to achieve both a good impregnation of the fibres and a high consolidation quality of the different layers. The aim of the present study was to consolidate tows consisting of polymer powder between glass fibre bundles with a surrounding polymer sheath. Since impregnation was meant to occur under nearly the same conditions as in continuous processes, such as, thermoplastic filament winding or pultrusion, only one or two tows were impregnated during the experiments under defined processing parameters, such as, impregnation temperature, pressure, and time.