pps proceeding - Abstract Preview
pps proceeding
Symposium: S03 - Injection Molding and Micromolding
Oral Presentation
 
 

Overmolding of SGF-PP onto a Continuous GF-PP Composite

Akpınar Serkan (1), Metin Merve (2), Kodal Mehmet (1), Sezen Meltem (3), Ozkoc Güralp (2)*, Altan M.Cengiz (4)

(1) Polymer Science and Technology Graduate Program, Kocaeli University - Kocaeli - Turkey, (2) Chemical Engineering Department, Kocaeli University - Kocaeli - Turkey, (3) Sabanci University Nanotechnology Research and Application Center - Istanbul - Turkey, (4) School of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Oklahoma - Oklahoma - USA

In recent years, weight reduction has become an important issue in automotive industry because of the regulations dictating a reduction in carbon emissions. For this purpose, continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic prepregs (CFRTP) have become the most common alternatives for replacement of metal components. The advantages of CFRTP in automotive applications are their superior mechanical properties, ease of processing, relatively low cost and recyclability. However, integrating CFRTP with other automotive parts are difficult since joining and assembly of multiple components pose technical challenges. In order to alleviate this problem, overmolding of polymers on to the CFRTP has been commonly performed. In overmolding, better interfacial bonding strength between two materials leads to enhanced stress transfer, thus improving the performance of the product. Therefore, improving the interfacial bonding strength has been the focus of recent overmolding research. In this study, polypropylene (PP) based continuous glass fiber prepregs were overmolded by using a short fiber reinforced (SGF) PP compound. For this purpose, a laboratory scale micro-compounder and micro-injection molding machine (Xplore Instruments, The Netherlands) were used to prepare the overmolded samples. The influence of crystallization on the interfacial bonding between CFRTP and PP/SGF compound was investigated. In order to increase the crystallinity, samples were annealed at different temperatures prior to production. The bonding strength at the weld-line was investigated through debonding tests. The crystallization behavior at the interfacial area was determined by differential scanning calorimetry before and after annealing. In addition, the morphology of interfacial area was probed with SEM, revealing the salient features of the fractured region.