Parametric Optmisation of Pin-assisted-melt Impregnation of Glass Fiber/Polypropylene by Taguchi Method

Abstract

A continuous glass fiber (GF) roving reinforced polypropylene (PP) tape is prepared with a pin-assisted-melt impregnation set-up. This study originally applied the Taguchi method to statistically assess the effect of selected impregnation parameters on the impregnation process, and to optimize the parameters to realize a high quality impregnated tape. The quality of the impregnated tape is characterized by the degree of impregnation, ratio of the impregnated fiber number to the total fiber number. According to the Taguchi method, impregnation experiments are designed and the experimental results are analyzed. An optimal parameter combination is determined, which led to a degree of impregnation more than 94%. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed on the measured data and S/N (signal to noise) ratios. The results indicated that pulling speed, melt temperature, and the number of impregnation pins are the significant factors in a declining sequence affecting the impregnation process.

Keywords

fibers melt poly(propylene) (PP)thermoplastic

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Hou, M. , Ye, L. and Mai, Y.-M. (1995). Advances in Processing of Continuous Fiber-Reinforced Composites with Thermoplastic Matrix, Plast . Rubber Compos. Process Applic., 23(5): 279–293 .

Lutz, A. and Harmia, T. (1999). Impregnation Techniques for Fiber Bundles or Tows, In: Karger-Kocsis, J. (ed.), Polypropylene: An A-Z Reference, Kluwer, Dordrecht, pp. 301–306.

Bates, P.J. and Charrier, J.M.J. (1999). Effect of Process Parameters on Melt Impregnation of Glass Roving , J. Thermoplast. Compos. Mater., 12(4): 276–296 .

Gaymans, R.J. and Wevers, E. (1998). Impregnation of a Glass Fibre Roving with a Polypropylene Melt in a Pin Assisted Process , Composites-Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, 29(5-6): 663–670 .

Bijsterbosch, H. and Gaymans, R.J. (1993). Polyamide-6-Long Glass-Fiber Injection , Composites Manufacturing, 16(5): 363–369 .

Nygard, P. and Gustafson, C.-G.J. (2004). Continuous Glass Fiber-Polypropylene Composites Made by Melt Impregnation: Influence of Processing Method , Thermoplast. Compos. Mater., 17: 167–184 .

Henniger, F. , Hoffmann, J. and Friedrich, K. (2002). Thermoplastic Filament Winding with Online-impregnation. Part B. Experimental study of Processing Parameters , Composites-Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, 33(12): 1677–1688 .

Peltonen, P. and Tormala, P. (1994). Melt Impregnation Parameters , Composite Structures, 27(1-2): 149–155 .

Mitschang, P. , Blinzler, M. and Woginger, A. (2003). Processing Technologies for Continuous Fibre Reinforced Thermoplastics with Novel Polymer Blends , Composites Science and Technology, 63(14): 2099–2110 .

10.

Tate, S. , Chiba, S. and Tani, K. (1996). Melt Viscosity Reduction of Poly(ethylene terephthalate) by Solvent Impregnation , Polymer, 37(19): 4421–4424 .

11.

Lutz, A. , Velten, K. and Evstatiev, M. (1998). A New Tool for Fibre Bundle Impregnation: Experiments and Process Analysis , In: Proceedings of ECCM 8, Naples, June 1998, pp. 471–477 .

12.

Phillip, J.R. (1996). Taguchi Techniques for Quality Engineering, McGraw-Hill, New York .

13.

Liu, S.-J. , Lin, W.-F. , Chang, B.-C. , Wu, G.-M. and Hung, S.-W. (1999). Optimizing the Joint Strength of Ultrasonically Welded Thermoplastics , Advances in Polymer Technology, 18(2): 125–135 .

14.

Robinson, T.J. , Borror, C.M. and Myers, R.J. (2004). Robust Parameter Design: A Review , Qual. Reliab. Engng. Int., 20(1): 81–101 .

15.

Bates, P.J. and Charrier, J.M. (2000). Pulling Tension Monitoring During the Melt Impregnation of Glass Roving , Polymer Composites, 21(1): 104–113 .