CHARACTERIZATION OF FINITE-LENGTH COMPOSITES .5. MODELING OF STIFFNESS

This characterization of a range of glass and carbon fibre reinforced polypropylene and polyamide injection moldings forms part of a wider I UPAC Working Party IV.2.1 study of these materials. In this part of th e work we summarise observations of stiffness and microstructural char acterization with the aim of linking these features via an micromechan ical model. The model makes a number of simplifying assumptions in ord er to be tractable and is based on calculating the stiffness of a numb er of ''imaginary'' layers through the thickness of the molding, with each layer having a singular fibre orientation. The stiffness of the m olding is then determined by an appropriate summation of the stiffness of these layers. The agreement between observed and 'modelled' stiffn ess is reasonable within the context of the assumptions necessary for tractability.