A. Chrysostomou et S. Hashemi, Effect of reprocessing on mechanical properties of short glass fibre reinforced styrene maleic anhydride, PLAS RUB C, 29(5), 2000, pp. 235-242
The effect of reprocessing by injection moulding on the mechanical properti
es of styrene maleic anhydride composites reinforced with 10, 20, and 30 wt
-% short glass fibres has been studied. The study revealed that matrix prop
erties related to the breaking point were significantly reduced by reproces
sing. The observed reduction in the property values of the matrix material
was attributed to the reduction in ductility caused by the molecular weight
degradation. For the composites, almost all measured properties were reduc
ed as a consequence of reprocessing. The strength and modulus of the compos
ite were found to be linear functions of both the average length and the co
ncentration of the fibres in the composite. The reduction in composite prop
erty values was attributed mainly to the degradation of fibres during each
reprocessing cycle. Using a modified rule of mixtures, values of the overal
l efficiency parameter for strength and modulus were estimated and found to
decrease as the number of reprocessing cycles was increased. This reductio
n in the overall efficiency parameters was mainly due to fibre breakage, oc
curring at each reprocessing cycle. PRC/1619 (C) 2000 IoM Communications Lt
d.