Thermoplastic Resin Matrix Composites
Thermoplastic resin matrix composites were developed in 1980s. They mainly consist of long fiber reinforced pellets (LFP), continuous fiber reinforced prepreg (MITT) and glass mat reinforced thermoplastic composites (GMT). According to different requirements, the resin matrix mainly consists of PP, PE, PA, PBT, PEI, PC, PES, PEEK, PI, PAI and other thermoplastic engineering plastics, and fiber types include all kinds of fiber, such as glass fiber, carbon fiber, aramid fiber and boron fiber. With the development of thermoplastic resin matrix composites and the advantages of recyclability, the composites developed rapidly. In Europe and America, thermoplastic resin composites have accounted for more than 30% of the total resin matrix composites.
The high performance thermoplastic resin matrix composites are mostly injected, and the matrix is mainly PP and PA. The products include fittings (elbow, three links, flanges), valves, impeller, bearings, electrical and automotive parts, extrusion pipes, GMT moulded products (such as jeep seat bracket), automobile pedals, seats and so on. Applications of glass fiber reinforced polypropylene in automobile include ventilation and heating system, air filter housing, transmission cover, seat rack, fender gasket, transmission belt protective cover and so on.
The PP filled with talcum powder has high rigidity, high strength, excellent heat resistance and cold resistance. There is an important application of talc enhanced PP in interior decoration, such as parts of ventilation systems, dashboard and automatic brake control bars, such as the United States HPM company with 20% talc filled PP honeycomb structure made of sound-absorbing ceiling and car window lifter lifts barrel shell.
The mica composite material has the characteristics of high rigidity, high heat deformation temperature, low shrinkage, low flexibility, stable size, low density, low price, the use of Mica / polypropylene composites can be made the car dashboard, headlight protection ring, baffle cover, door guardrail, motor fan, shutters and other components, the use of damping this material can be produced by the audio parts, shielding can make storage battery box etc.
Our study on thermoplastic resin composites began at the end of 1980s, nearly ten years has achieved rapid development in 2000 production reached 120 thousand tons, accounting for the total output of resin based composite material 17%, the matrix material, still by PP and PA, reinforced with glass fiber, a small amount of carbon fiber, the thermoplastic composites failed to have a major breakthrough, there are still gaps with developed countries.