Ionomer. I. The effect of woven class mat reinforcement on tensile properties

An investigation was conducted on ionomer polymer. The ionomer pellets were molded into a thin sheet before fabrication into composites. The reinforci ng agent used was woven glass mat. Before fabrication, the woven glass mat was treated with the following: 1. silane coupling agent for 5 min and drie d at room temperature; 2. silane coupling agent for 5 min and dried in the oven at 110 degreesC for 15 min; 3. Ultraviolet radiation for 5 min; and 4. silane (oven dried + ultraviolet). The composites were fabricated at vario us pressure, time, and temperature. An ideal processing condition was estab lished, i.e., pressure = 5 MPa, temperature = 180 degreesC, and the impregn ation time = 30 min. The void contents of the composites were estimated usi ng the ignition method and the tensile properties were measured. The result s revealed that good impregnation of the matrix ionomer into the reinforcin g agent can be achieved at 180 degreesC. This was confirmed by low void con tent as compared with other test temperatures. Further clarification was th rough the tensile properties, which were higher than those at lower tempera tures (120 and 150 degreesC). The effect of fiber orientation was checked, and both 0 and 90 degrees had identical strengths and moduli irrespective o f the various fiber treatments. Apart from the void contents. the degree of impregnation was also checked based on the tensile strengths in 45, 25, an d 60 degrees fiber orientations. (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.