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Polymers
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Fiber-Reinforced Thermoplastics
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Fiber-Reinforced Thermoplastics

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Processing and Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 November 2020) | Viewed by 26402

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Seung Goo Lee

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Guest Editor
Department of Organic Materials Engineering, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 34134, Republic of Korea
Interests: fiber-reinforced polymers; composite molding and processing; fiber surface treatment; carbon fiber; thermoplastic matrix; thermosetting matrix; mechanical properties; polymer crystallization
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Donghwan Cho

E-Mail
Guest Editor
Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Kumoh National Institute of Technology, Gumi, Korea
Interests: fiber-reinforced polymer matrix composites; carbon fiber; natural fiber; thermoplastic matrix; thermosetting matrix; composite processing; composite characterization; properties evaluation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues, 

Fiber-reinforced composites, having various advantages of excellent mechanical, thermal, anti-corrosive, and functional properties, and have been used in many industrial fields, such as aerospace/aircrafts, automotives, electronics, military, energy, marine, sporting/leisure goods, construction, and so on. Despite their growing usages, their long processing time as a result of the cure reaction of conventional thermosetting resins has limited their application in mass production. This is why thermoplastic matrix composites are gaining much interest for the mass production of composite parts via rapid consolidation processing. Therefore, the aim of this Special Issue is to provide insight into the recent advances in the aspects of thermoplastic composite materials, including processing, characterization, properties, and manufacturing. Composite processing in the presence of fiber reinforcements influences the macro- and micro-structures, including crystallization, impregnation, consolidation, etc. Thus, it is important to characterize the mechanical, thermal, physical, and functional performances of fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites in a wide range of possible processing techniques.

This Special Issue covers all of the academic and practical aspects related to the fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites, as indicated below:

  • New thermoplastic matrices for composites
  • Thermoplastic composite processing and manufacturing
  • Thermoplastic prepregs
  • Characterization of microstructure and crystallization behaviors of thermoplastic composites
  • Process and material designs for the rapid consolidation of thermoplastic composites
  • Effect of interfacial interactions between the fiber and the matrix on the performance of composites
  • Surface treatment and modification of reinforcing fibers for improving resin impregnation efficiency
  • Additives for thermoplastic composites
  • Recycling of thermoplastic composites and their waste
  • Structural properties and the design of fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites
  • Repairing and joining of fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites
  • Thermal and physico-chemical properties of fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites. 

Authors are welcome to submit their latest research efforts in the form of original regular articles, communications, or reviews on these topics.

Prof. Seung Goo Lee
Prof. Donghwan Cho
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • thermoplastic matrix
  • composite processing and manufacturing
  • composite properties and characterization
  • extrusion and injection molding techniques
  • long fiber thermoplastics
  • fiber reinforcements
  • fiber surface treatment
  • functional composites
  • structural composites
  • composite joints
  • hybrid composites
  • environmental durability
  • biocomposites or natural fiber composites
  • composite applications
  • composite recycling

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Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 6462 KiB  
Article
Simulation Analysis of Limit Operating Specifications for Onshore Spoolable Reinforced Thermoplastic Pipes
by Houbu Li, Xuemin Zhang, Haohan Huang, Teng Zhou, Guoquan Qi and Han Ding
Polymers 2021, 13(20), 3480; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13203480 - 11 Oct 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2962
Abstract
Spoolable reinforced plastic line pipes (RTPs), exhibiting a series of advantages such as good flexibility, few joints, long single length, light weight, easy installation, etc., have been widely used in the onshore oil and gas industry such as oil and gas gathering and [...] Read more.
Spoolable reinforced plastic line pipes (RTPs), exhibiting a series of advantages such as good flexibility, few joints, long single length, light weight, easy installation, etc., have been widely used in the onshore oil and gas industry such as oil and gas gathering and transportation, high pressure alcohol injection, water injection, sewage treatment, and other fields. However, due to the lack of clear standard specificationof the limit operating properties for RTPs, three typical failure modes, i.e., tensile, flexure, and torsion, frequently occur in terrain changes, construction operation, and subsequent application, which seriously affects the promotion and use of RTPs. In this paper, the stress distribution of a non-bonded polyester fiber reinforced high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe (DN 150, PN 2.5 MPa) was systematically studied by the finite element method (FEM), and then the limit operating values under the axial tensile, coiled bending, and torsion load were determined. The corresponding experiments were conducted to validate the reliability and accuracy of the FEM model. The FEM results showed that the critical strain for axial tensile was 3%, the minimum respooling bend radius was 1016.286 mm, and the limit torsion angle of this RTP was 58.77°, which are very close to the experimental results. These limit values will be useful to establish normative guidelines for field construction and failure prevention of onshore RTP. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fiber-Reinforced Thermoplastics)
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20 pages, 3823 KiB  
Article
Dual-Sizing Effects of Carbon Fiber on the Thermal, Mechanical, and Impact Properties of Carbon Fiber/ABS Composites
by Daekyun Hwang, Seung Goo Lee and Donghwan Cho
Polymers 2021, 13(14), 2298; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13142298 - 13 Jul 2021
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 4401
Abstract
Dual-sizing effects with either epoxy or polyurethane (PU) on the thermal, mechanical, and impact properties of carbon fiber/acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) composites produced by extrusion and injection molding processes were investigated. The heat deflection temperature, dynamic mechanical, tensile, flexural, and impact properties of the composites [...] Read more.
Dual-sizing effects with either epoxy or polyurethane (PU) on the thermal, mechanical, and impact properties of carbon fiber/acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) composites produced by extrusion and injection molding processes were investigated. The heat deflection temperature, dynamic mechanical, tensile, flexural, and impact properties of the composites reinforced with either (epoxy + epoxy) or (epoxy + PU) dual-sized carbon fiber were higher than those commercially single-sized with epoxy. The result indicated that the dual-sized carbon fiber significantly contributed not only to improving the heat deflection temperature and the storage modulus, but also to improving the tensile, flexural, and impact properties of carbon fiber/ABS composites. The highest improvement of the composite properties was obtained from the composite with (epoxy + PU) dual-sized carbon fiber. The improvement of the mechanical and impact properties was explained by the enhanced interfacial bonding between carbon fiber and ABS matrix and by the length distribution analysis of carbon fibers present in the resulting composites. The fiber–matrix interfacial behavior was qualitatively well-supported in terms of fiber pull-out, fiber breaking pattern, and debonding gaps between the fiber and the matrix, as observed from the fracture surface topography. This study revealed that the properties of carbon fiber/ABS composites prepared by extrusion and injection molding processes were improved by dual-sizing carbon fiber, which was performed after a commercial epoxy sizing process, and further improved by using PU as an additional sizing material. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fiber-Reinforced Thermoplastics)
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14 pages, 7531 KiB  
Article
Fabrication of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Aromatic Polyamide Composites and Their Thermal Conductivities with a h-BN Filler
by Min Jun Lee, Pil Gyu Lee, Il-Joon Bae, Jong Sung Won, Min Hong Jeon and Seung Goo Lee
Polymers 2021, 13(1), 21; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13010021 - 23 Dec 2020
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3335
Abstract
In this study, a carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composite was fabricated using a new aromatic polyamide (APA) as a matrix. Non-isothermal crystallization behaviors in the cooling process of APA resin (a semi-crystalline polymer) and composite were analyzed by using a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). [...] Read more.
In this study, a carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composite was fabricated using a new aromatic polyamide (APA) as a matrix. Non-isothermal crystallization behaviors in the cooling process of APA resin (a semi-crystalline polymer) and composite were analyzed by using a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). To determine the optimum molding conditions, processing parameters such as the molding temperature and time were varied during compression molding of the Carbon/APA composite. The tensile and flexural properties and morphologies of the fabricated composites were analyzed. Molding at 270 °C and 50 MPa for 5 min. showed relatively good mechanical properties and morphologies; thus, this condition was selected as the optimal molding condition. In addition, to enhance the thermal conductivity of the Carbon/APA composite, a study was conducted to add hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) as a filler. The surface of h-BN was oxidized to increase its miscibility in the resin, which resulted in better dispersity in the APA matrix. In conclusion, a Carbon/APA (h-BN) composite manufactured under optimal molding conditions with an APA resin containing surface-treated h-BN showed a thermal conductivity more than twice that of the case without h-BN. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fiber-Reinforced Thermoplastics)
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10 pages, 2473 KiB  
Article
Application of Glass Fiber and Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Thermoplastics in Face Guards
by Takahiro Wada, Hiroshi Churei, Mako Yokose, Naohiko Iwasaki, Hidekazu Takahashi and Motohiro Uo
Polymers 2021, 13(1), 18; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13010018 - 23 Dec 2020
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2522
Abstract
Face guards (FGs) are protectors that allow for the rapid and safe return of athletes who are to play after sustaining traumatic facial injuries and orbital fractures. Current FGs require significant thickness to achieve sufficient shock absorption abilities. However, their weight and thickness [...] Read more.
Face guards (FGs) are protectors that allow for the rapid and safe return of athletes who are to play after sustaining traumatic facial injuries and orbital fractures. Current FGs require significant thickness to achieve sufficient shock absorption abilities. However, their weight and thickness render the FGs uncomfortable and reduce the field of vision of the athlete, thus hindering their performance. Therefore, thin and lightweight FGs are required. We fabricated FGs using commercial glass fiber-reinforced thermoplastic (GFRTP) and carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastic (CFRTP) resins to achieve these requirements and investigated their shock absorption abilities through impact testing. The results showed that an FG composed of CFRTP is thinner and lighter than a conventional FG and has sufficient shock absorption ability. The fabrication method of an FG comprising CFRTP is similar to the conventional method. FGs composed of commercial FRTPs exhibit adequate shock absorption abilities and are thinner and lower in weight as compared to conventional FGs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fiber-Reinforced Thermoplastics)
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Graphical abstract

14 pages, 4972 KiB  
Article
Influences of Absorbed Dose Rate on the Mechanical Properties and Fiber–Matrix Interaction of High-Density Polyethylene-Based Carbon Fiber Reinforced Thermoplastic Irradiated by Electron-Beam
by Se Kye Park, Dong Yun Choi, Du Young Choi, Dong Yun Lee and Seung Hwa Yoo
Polymers 2020, 12(12), 3012; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym12123012 - 16 Dec 2020
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2813
Abstract
In this study, a high-density polyethylene (HDPE)-based carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastic (CFRTP) was irradiated by an electron-beam. To assess the absorbed dose rate influence on its mechanical properties, the beam energy and absorbed dose were fixed, while the absorbed dose rates were varied. The [...] Read more.
In this study, a high-density polyethylene (HDPE)-based carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastic (CFRTP) was irradiated by an electron-beam. To assess the absorbed dose rate influence on its mechanical properties, the beam energy and absorbed dose were fixed, while the absorbed dose rates were varied. The tensile strength (TS) and Young’s modulus (YM) were evaluated. The irradiated CFRTP TS increased at absorbed dose rates of up to 6.8 kGy/s and decreased at higher rates. YM showed no meaningful differences. For CFRTPs constituents, the carbon fiber (CF) TS gradually increased, while the HDPE TS decreased slightly as the absorbed dose rates increased. The OH intermolecular bond was strongly developed in irradiated CFRTP at low absorbed dose rates and gradually declined when increasing those rates. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis revealed that the oxygen content of irradiated CFRTPs decreased with increasing absorbed dose rate due to the shorter irradiation time at higher dose rates. In conclusion, from the TS viewpoint, opposite effects occurred when increasing the absorbed dose rate: a favorable increase in CF TS and adverse decline of attractive hydrogen bonding interactions between HDPE and CF for CFRTPs TS. Therefore, the irradiated CFRTP TS was maximized at an optimum absorbed dose rate of 6.8 kGy/s. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fiber-Reinforced Thermoplastics)
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26 pages, 20618 KiB  
Article
Validation of a Simulation Methodology for Thermoplastic and Thermosetting Composite Materials Considering the Effect of Forming Process on the Structural Performance
by Lorenzo Sisca, Patrizio Tiziano Locatelli Quacchia, Alessandro Messana, Andrea Giancarlo Airale, Alessandro Ferraris, Massimiliana Carello, Marco Monti, Marta Palenzona, Andrea Romeo, Christian Liebold, Salvatore Scalera, Alberto Festa and Paolo Codrino
Polymers 2020, 12(12), 2801; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym12122801 - 26 Nov 2020
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 5220
Abstract
This research work investigated the influence of the press molding manufacturing process on the mechanical properties, both for thermoplastic and thermosetting fiber reinforced composite materials. The particular geometry of the case study, called Double Dome, was considered in order to verify the behavior [...] Read more.
This research work investigated the influence of the press molding manufacturing process on the mechanical properties, both for thermoplastic and thermosetting fiber reinforced composite materials. The particular geometry of the case study, called Double Dome, was considered in order to verify the behavior of the Thermoplastic and Thermosetting prepreg in terms of shell thickness variation and fibers shear angle evolution during the thermoforming process. The thermoforming simulation was performed using LS-DYNA® Finite Element Analysis (FEA) code, and the results were transferred by Envyo®, a dedicated mapping tool, into a LS-DYNA® virtual model for the structural simulation. A series of Double Dome specimens was produced with industrial equipment, and a bending experimental test was been carried on. Finally, a numerical-experimental correlation was performed, highlighting a significant forecast of the mechanical properties for the considered component. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fiber-Reinforced Thermoplastics)
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Graphical abstract

11 pages, 3018 KiB  
Article
Effects of Waste Expanded Polypropylene as Recycled Matrix on the Flexural, Impact, and Heat Deflection Temperature Properties of Kenaf Fiber/Polypropylene Composites
by Junghoon Kim and Donghwan Cho
Polymers 2020, 12(11), 2578; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym12112578 - 2 Nov 2020
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 3773
Abstract
Waste Expanded polypropylene (EPP) was utilized as recycled matrix for kenaf fiber-reinforced polypropylene (PP) composites produced using chopped kenaf fibers and crushed EPP waste. The flexural properties, impact strength, and heat deflection temperature (HDT) of kenaf fiber/PP composites were highly enhanced by using [...] Read more.
Waste Expanded polypropylene (EPP) was utilized as recycled matrix for kenaf fiber-reinforced polypropylene (PP) composites produced using chopped kenaf fibers and crushed EPP waste. The flexural properties, impact strength, and heat deflection temperature (HDT) of kenaf fiber/PP composites were highly enhanced by using waste EPP, compared to those by using virgin PP. The flexural modulus and strength of the composites with waste EPP were 98% and 55% higher than those with virgin PP at the same kenaf contents, respectively. The Izod impact strength and HDT were 31% and 12% higher with waste EPP than with virgin PP, respectively. The present study indicates that waste EPP would be feasible as recycled matrix for replacing conventional PP matrix in natural fiber composites. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fiber-Reinforced Thermoplastics)
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