Journal of Applied Polymer Science, Vol.80, No.9, 1395-1400, 2001
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 reinforcing 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 dried 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 various pressure, time, and temperature. An ideal processing condition was established, i.e., pressure = 5 MPa, temperature = 180 degreesC, and the impregnation time = 30 min. The void contents of the composites were estimated using the ignition method and the tensile properties were measured. The results revealed that good impregnation of the matrix ionomer into the reinforcing agent can be achieved at 180 degreesC. This was confirmed by low void content as compared with other test temperatures. Further clarification was through the tensile properties, which were higher than those at lower temperatures (120 and 150 degreesC). The effect of fiber orientation was checked, and both 0 and 90 degrees had identical strengths and moduli irrespective of the various fiber treatments. Apart from the void contents. the degree of impregnation was also checked based on the tensile strengths in 45, 25, and 60 degrees fiber orientations.