The design and performance of a polymer ribbon‐reinforced transparent composite material

For the purpose of producing polymer ribbon/polymer‐matrix composites, we manufacture rectangular cross section ribbons directly by spinning from a rectangular die. A range of optical techniques, including the interferometric measurement of filament refractive index and characterization of composite optical performance through the modulation transfer function, are employed to quantify properties and guide system design. The interferometric measurements revealed that, compared with previous mechanically worked filaments, the die spun filaments have a more uniform optical path across the fiber. These measurements also enabled characterization of the filament's chromatic dispersion and allowed for matching the matrix refractive index across the visible spectrum. The results show that composites manufactured from rectangular die‐spun ribbons have excellent optical properties with a significant optical performance improvement over previous work. POLYM. COMPOS., 39:2523–2534, 2018. © 2016 Society of Plastics Engineers