Mechanical properties and morphology of polypropylene composites. III. Short glass fiber reinforced elastomer modified polypropylene

Abstract The impact strength and rigidity of polypropylene composites can be significantly improved by application of short glass fibers instead of mineral fillers in elastomer‐modified polypropylene. The properties of such composites are strongly dependent on the adhesive forces at the fiber‐matrix interface. Poor adhesion results in interfacial fracture solely by fiber‐matrix debonding, as evidenced by scanning electron microscopy on the fracture surfaces. This is accompanied by relatively low impact strengths. By contrast, increased adhesion leads to fracture not only by fiber‐matrix debonding, but also by crack propagation through the elastomeric phase at the fiber surface. This mechanism is thought to be responsible for a remarkable increase of the impact strength. Appropriate compositions of polypropylene, glass fiber, and elastomer resulted in composite properties similar to, or even better than, those of a typical acrylonitrile‐butadiene‐styrene copolymer. The lengths of the fibers recovered from the test specimens were somewhat smaller than the critical fiber lengths as calculated by simple shear lag theory. The properties of the present composites should thus be regarded as minima, rather than as potential maxima. This suggests that current composites may be suitable for engineering applications.