CHARACTERIZATION OF FINITE-LENGTH COMPOSITES - PART IV - STRUCTURAL STUDIES ON INJECTION-MOLDED COMPOSITES

The microstructure of discontinuous fiber composites can be articulate d by many parameters. In this collaborative study as part of series of parallel projects under the IUPAC Working Party IV.2.1 on Structure a nd Properties of Commercial Polymers, various laboratories have carrie d out measurements. Their results and observations are summarised in t his paper. In this family of materials, the microstructure should be d escribed by at least three parameters, namely fiber orientation distri bution, fiber length distribution and fiber content. It is shown in th is work that there is a profound influence of the processing history o n the microstructure for these composite materials, and that there is a considerable challenge in measuring the macro-, meso and microstruct ural aspects.