A comparison of short glass fiber reinforced polypropylene plates made by conventional injection molding and using shear controlled injection molding

Abstract This paper describes a comparison of the fiber orientation structures and resulting elastic properties of samples of short glass fiber filled polypropylene made by conventional injection molding and by the SCORIM (Shear Controlled Orientation in Injection Molding) process developed at The University of Brunel. The 3D fiber orientation distributions of the composites were measured using a unique transputer based image analysis system developed at The University of Leeds. The mechanical properties of the samples were characterized using an ultrasonic velocity technique, which allows a full set of elastic constants to be determined for each material. The link between fiber orientation distributions and measured elastic properties was then investigated using theoretical models developed in this laboratory.