Short fiber thermoplastics

Thermoplastics containing short fiber reinforcements were first introduced commercially in the 1960s. The most common type of fibers used in short fiber thermoplastics are glass fiber and carbon fiber . Adding short fibers to thermoplastic resins improves the composite performance for lightweight applications. In addition, short fiber thermoplastic composites are easier and cheaper to produce than continuous fiber reinforced composites. This compromise between cost and performance allows short fiber reinforced thermoplastics to be used in myriad applications. Thermoplastics containing short fiber reinforcements were first introduced commercially in the 1960s. The most common type of fibers used in short fiber thermoplastics are glass fiber and carbon fiber . Adding short fibers to thermoplastic resins improves the composite performance for lightweight applications. In addition, short fiber thermoplastic composites are easier and cheaper to produce than continuous fiber reinforced composites. This compromise between cost and performance allows short fiber reinforced thermoplastics to be used in myriad applications. Mechanical properties of short fiber reinforced composites depend critically on the fiber length distribution (FLD) and the fiber orientation distribution (FOD). In particular, the strength of short fiber reinforced composites increases with the increase of the mean fiber length and with the decrease of the mean fiber orientation angle (angle between the fiber axis and the loading direction).The elastic modulus (E) of misaligned short fiber reinforced polymer composites depends on the distributions of fiber lengths and orientations within the composite structure. In general, the composite elastic modulus increases with the decrease of the mean fiber orientation angle and with the increase of the fiber orientation coefficient; and the elastic modulus increases with the increase of mean fiber length when the mean fiber length is small. When the mean fiber length is large, it has nearly no influence on the elastic modulus of short fiber reinforced composites.