Full Record for Micrograph 596

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Micrograph no: 596
Brief description: Glass-fibre reinforced polymer
Keywords: alignment, composite material , fibre , glass , glass fibre reinforced composite, glass fibres , injection moulding , polymer , polymer composite, polypropylene (PP), thermoplastic, toughness
Categories: Composite, Polymer, Polymer composite
System: Polypropylene (PP)
Composition: Polypropylene with 15% glass fibres
Standard codes
Reaction
Processing: Injection moulding
Applications: Short fibre reinforced thermoplastics are mouldable but the fibres confer greater toughness and stiffness upon them. This micrograph is a cross-section of the handle of a gas lighter.
Sample preparation
Technique: Reflected light microscopy
Length bar: 400 μm
Further information: 15 vol % of short glass fibres are intimately mixed with the polypropylene matrix and injection moulded together. The fibre orientation reflects the flow of material into the mould. In this case, the fibres are well aligned in the outer layers of the moulding but more randomly aligned near the core.
Contributor: J A Curran
Organisation: Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, University of Cambridge
Date: 03/10/02
Licence for re-use: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International