Abstract
A compounding process featuring staggered cylindrical pins in a melt pool has been used to impregnate 2400-tex glass roving with polyamide 66. The effect of equipment and operating parameters on melt impregnation was assessed using the interlaminar shear strength of the composite strands, as well as mechanical and physical properties of test specimens injection molded from chopped strands. The impregnation of the roving by the polymer is strongly related to the magnitude of a new empirical dimensionless number called the impregnation number. The impregnation number combines compounding parameters related to equipment, operating conditions, and roving characteristics. For maximum impregnation, the impregnation number for such a process should be larger than 150.
