Carbon and glass fiber reinforced thermoplastic matrix composites

Abstract Over the past four decades, carbon fiber reinforced composites have been used primarily in high-performance aerospace, aircraft, and military applications, whereas glass fiber-based composites have been used in high-volume marine, automotive, and industrial applications. Because of ease of processing and moderate-to-excellent properties, thermosets have been used primarily for structural or semi-structural composites, whereas thermoplastic matrices have been used mostly as lower performance composites. However, there is a renewed interest in the use of thermoplastic matrices in high performance applications because such composites can be recycled after a product has served its useful life. Therefore, the focus of this chapter is on such thermoplastic matrix-based composites that deliver moderate (polyamides and polyesters) to high performance (polyetherimides and polyetheretherketone), rather than fiber-reinforced plastics. Emphasis is given to production techniques that provide processing efficiency. Thus, long discontinuous fiber-based composites are discussed as a path towards rapid/cost-effective production route while simultaneously providing ultrahigh strength and stiffness approaching that of continuous fiber counterparts.