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SOCIETY OF PLASTICS ENGINEERS | NEWSLETTER

D39 - COMPOSITES DIVISION EDITION: Mar,2011

○Chairman Message ○Board of Directors Membership r ○eport

Bod Meeting Minutes ○ Award/recognition ○ Councilors Report / Financial Report ○ (Future) events / Others ○ *For images sources please refer appendix at the end of the newsletter

SOCIETY OF PLASTICS D39 - COMPOSITES DIVISION ENGINEERS EDITION: Mar, 2011

NEWSLETTER

CHAIRMAN MESSAGE BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEMBERSHIP REPORT BOD MEETING Minutes Awards Councilor’s Report / Financial Report FUTURE EVENTS / Others

This letter will be my last, as my term expires in May. At the ANTEC conference our chair-elect Dale Brosious (Quickstep) will follow as the division’s chair for 2011-2013. This year’s Composites Division winter meeting took place a day before the ACMA show in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. I was pleased to see that our membership is growing back. As of December 2010 our total membership was 1066, a 10% annual increase. Relative to SPE as a whole, our division represents 7.2% of the total membership. Our sponsored membership drive recorded 35 new members in 2010. We are looking forward to better numbers this year.

During ANTEC please attend our Annual Awards Ceremony on Tuesday afternoon May 3rd following the afternoon paper session. Most members of the board will be present and is a great opportunity for you to meet and talk to us. During the ceremony the PerkinElmer, Composites Educator of the Year, and Person-of-the-Year awards will be presented.

Please visit and join our SPE Composites group on LinkedIn. This is a great forum to ask questions and communicate with the composites community. We have approximately 330 members in that group.

Chairman’s Message


NEWSLETTER Chairman’s Message


[Type a quote from the document or the summary of an interesting point. You can position the text box anywhere in the document. Use the Text Box Tools tab to change the formatting of the pull quote text box.]

As always please feel free to drop me a line if you have any questions or comments. Your feedback is greatly appreciated and vital to the health and growth of our division.

Thank you- Antoine Rios Composites Division Chair The Madison Group

*Back ground picture has been provided by Dr. Uday Vaidya at University of Alabama, Birmingham. It is high-resolution SEM image of E-glass/polypropylene LFT processed by extrusion-compression molding. The image shows the preferential fiber orientation developed in the composites as a function of the extrusion. The resulting properties are influenced by the fiber orientation in the part.

Chairman’s Message

With 354+ members already, it is a great place for discussions, news, and jobs in the field of composites.

SPE Composites Division gets linked

at

Click on the image to reach us at Linked in

90 more members added since last

newsletter!!!


NEWSLETTER BOARD OF DIRECTORS


Dr. Dale Grove SPE Composites Director &

Council of the whole (effective 2010 ANTEC)

Tekni-Plex 2100 Patterson St Decatur, IN 46733

Cell: 260-301-1440 [email protected]

Thomas E. Jackson SPE Composites Director &

Treasurer

Director of Research School of Engineering University of Alabama

at Birmingham HOEN 101B, 1530 3rd Ave. S. Birmingham, AL, 35294-4440

205-996-4448 [email protected]

Klaus Gleich SPE Composites-Past

Chair

Research Associate Johns Manville Technical

Center 10100 W. Ute Ave. Littleton, CO 80126


Enamul Haque SPE Composites

Director

Global R&D Director Bostik, Inc.

Transportation Division, 211 Boston St, Middleton, MA 978-750-7343

[email protected]

Jim Griffing SPE Composites Director &

Senior Vice President (effective 2010 ANTEC)

Technical Fellow The Boeing Company Box 3707, MC 02-FJ Seattle, WA 98124


Antoine Rios SPE Composites Director &

Chair

The Madison Group Madison, WI


Dale Brosius SPE Composites Director &

Chair Elect

Brosius Management Consulting

Chief Operating Officer 8760 Damn Drive

Brighton, MI 48114 810-220-5770

[email protected]

Pritam Das SPE Composites

Director & Newsletter Chair

Materials Scientist

Milgard Manufacturing 2935 70th Avenue East

Fife, WA 98424 253-896-3394

[email protected]




Phil Bates SPE Composites Director &

Awards Chair

Professor and Canada Research Chair in Polymer

Processing and Joining Department of Chemistry and

Chemical Engineering Royal Military College of

Canada PO BOX 17000 STN FORCES

Kingston, Ontario, Canada, K7K 7B4

613-541-6000 Ex 6272 or 6609

Frederick S. Deans SPE Composites

Director

Principal Allied Composite

Technologies, LLC 3128 Walton Blvd. Rochester Hills, MI

48309 248-760-7717

[email protected]

Daniel T. Buckley SPE Composites

Director

Manager of R & D American GFM

1232 Russellville Rd. Shrewsbury VT 05738

USA Tel. 802-492-3599 Cell 802-236-0201

[email protected]

Nippani Rao SPE Composites Director

& Inter/Intra Societies Chair

President, RAO

Associates 29215 Shenandoah Drive

Farmington Hills, MI.48331

Phone: 248 244 1753 [email protected]

Edward Zenk SPE Composites Director

& Secretary

Sr. Dev. Engineer Navistar, Inc.

Materials Engineering 2911 Meyer Road

Fort Wayne, IN 46803 260-461-7617

[email protected]

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Frank Henning SPE Composites Director &

European Liaison

Deputy Director Fraunhofer ICT

Institut of Vehicle Technology Franhofer ICT

Jeseph-von-Fraunhoferstr. 7 76327 Pfinzta

P: +49-721-464-0420

Xiaoyun (Shirley) Lai SPE Composites Director

PPG Industries, Inc.

Fiber Glass Science & Technology Center

940 Washburn Switch Road Shelby, NC 28150 704-434-2261 x209

[email protected]

Michael Connolly SPE Composites Director &

Communications Chair

Product Manager- Urethane Composites

Huntsman Polyurethanes 2190 Executive Hills Boulevard

Auburn, MI 48326 Ph: 248-3222-7416




Krishnamurthy Jayaraman SPE Composites Director

Professor

Dept. of Chemical Engineering & Materials Science

Michigan State University 2527 Engineering Building

East Lansing, MI 48824 Phone: 517-355-5138

Fax: 517 432-1105 [email protected]

Aaron W. Bartel SPE Composites Director

The Boeing Company Box 3707, MC 41-45 Seattle, WA 98124

Phone: 425-717-1202 [email protected]

Tim Johnson SPE Composites

Director Nida-Core

Tim Simko SPE Composites

Director & Past Chair

Nikhil E. Verghese, Ph.D. Composites Platform Leader,

Epoxy R&D The Dow Chemical Company 2301 N. Brazosport Blvd., B-

1608 Freeport, Texas 77541-3257

Phone: (979) 238-2706 [email protected]

Andrew Rich Research and Development

Plasan Carbon Composites

139 Shields Dr. Bennington, VT 05201

Uday Vaidya, PhD SPE Composites Director

Professor and Director, Engineered Plastics and

Composites Group Department of Materials Science

& Engineering University of Alabama at

Birmingham (UAB) Birmingham, AL 35294 Phone: 205-934-9199

e-mail: [email protected]

Creig Bowland

Long Fiber Thermoplastics Technical Leader

Research Associate PPG Industries Inc.

Fiberglass Science and Technology Center

940 Washburn Switch Road Shelby, NC 28150

Phone 704-434-2261 ext. 149

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SPE Composites Division Membership Report for Mar 2011

SPE Composites Division

Membership Report for Mar 2011

• At the end of December 2010 we had 1,066 members, which is higher than the 969 members at the end of December 2009.

• There was a large spike in new members in December 2010, with 121 new members joining the Composites Division.

• Relative to SPE, our membership share is 7.20%, up significantly from 6.68% at the end of 2009 and the highest it has ever been.

• The Linked-In SPE Composites Division subgroup currently has 305 members, which is up from 226 members in September 2010. SPE as a whole has 6,826 up from 5,533 total members in September 2010.

• The Composites Division’s total of 1,066 members is more than has been recorded for the Division since June 2008 (1119 members).

• Composites Division Membership Drive added 35 new members in 2010.

CHAIRMAN MESSAGE

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

MEMBERSHIP REPORT

BOD MEETING Minutes

Awards

Councilor’s Report / Financial Report FUTURE EVENTS / Others


SPE Composites Division Membership Report for Sep 2010

5-year growth history:

Submitted by,

Aaron W. Bartel

Composite Division Membership Chair

* High resolution image of E-glass fiber pull-out from polypropylene matrix showing significant damage tolerance of LFT composites. The serrations and roughness on the fiber is indicative of high degree of resistance to pull-out. Source: Dr. Uday Vaidya, University of Alabama (Birmingham)

CHAIRMAN MESSAGE

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

MEMBERSHIP REPORT

BOD MEETING Minutes

Awards


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Text Box

Room 310

Click on the image to reach us at Linked in

90 moe members added since last

newsletter!!! The JEC Composites show in Paris, March 29‐31, 2011, is a great opportunity for

international networking with people in the European and world‐wide composites industry attending. Please consider helping the Composites Division staff the SPE information booth for an hour or more during the conference. You'll advance the Division's presence in the composites industry while you meet composite materials developers and users from the

European market. Contact Mr. Jim Griffing at [email protected] or +1 425‐717‐1203.


NEWSLETTER Executive Committee Meeting Minutes

SPE COMPOSITES DIVISION BOARD OF DIRECTORS

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES

The executive committee of the Composites Division Board of Directors met via tele-conference on January 28, 2011 at 9:30 a.m. EST. In attendance were:

Antoine-Rios Dale Grove Ed Brosius Enamul Haque Klaus Gleich Tom Jackson

Zenk could not attend as he is out of the country on business travel. Three topics were discussed:

1. New Chair Elect for 2012-2013: It was decided that the election of the new chair-elect will be held on February 1, 2011 during the regular board meeting. Before that the present chair will send an email to the board members to see if there is any interest for the position. A board member has already expressed interest for the Chair Elect position. It was also discussed that the Treasurer and the Secretary also need to be re-elected by the full board members.

2. Structure of the Board: The executive committee also discussed the structure of the present board and reaffirmed our goal for being a working board. The committee also discussed about adding new members, if needed.

3. Open issues: Tom Jackson, our treasurer asked the executive committee if they wanted to change

the Treasurer position. Dale Brosius will discuss with Peggy Malnati about getting the check from the 2010 ACCE conference profit for the Composites Division.

Submitted by: Enamul Haque

CHAIRMAN MESSAGE

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

MEMBERSHIP REPORT

BOD MEETING Minutes

Awards



NEWSLETTER

Awards Report Application for PerkinElmer Award 2011-2012

The PerkinElmer Instruments Company sponsors a 2-part award presented yearly by the Composites Division of the Society of Plastics Engineers. It is open to undergraduate and graduate students. At the time of application, Master’s students must be in the first year of their programme. Doctoral students must be in the first two years of their programme. The winner is selected based on a 250 word abstract describing their composite research. This abstract must be written by the student. The abstract is judged by a panel of industry representatives. The abstract is due on 11 March 2011 (see below). In the first year, the recipient receives a $1000 (USD) scholarship award and a plaque at ANTEC 2011. To be eligible for the second $1000 instalment, the research described in the winning abstract must be presented in a paper at ANTEC 2012. Procedures for submitting papers to ANTEC 2012 will be found on SPE’s website www.4SPE.org. The winner will also receive $500 from the SPE composites Division to offset travel costs to the ANTEC conferences. To be considered for the 2011–2012 award, candidates must write a 250 word abstract on their research and complete the form below. The abstracts and form must be emailed before 11 March, 2011 to [email protected] :

Name:

Programme (Undergraduate/Master’s/Doctoral):

Date graduate programme started:

College or University:

University Supervisor:

Address:

Phone Number:

email:

Please insert below your abstract of 250 words or less that describes the research

Title:

Abstract:

CHAIRMAN MESSAGE

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

MEMBERSHIP REPORT

BOD MEETING Minutes

Awards

Councilor’s Report / Financial Report FUTURE EVENTS / others


NEWSLETTER

Awards Report

SPE Composites Division - Awards Chair Report

27 January 2011

1. Perkin Elmer Scholarship Update – I have contacted PerkinElmer on three occasions to confirm their participation in this year’s scholarship. This year, it appears that the admin assistant and primary contact have both moved on. This makes the sales job that much more difficult than usual. More information to follow soon. Once I have this confirmation, I will send out the usual call for applicants. I trust that I can count on the usual suspects for reviewing.

2. Giles Scholarship Update – No action at this time. This year, applicants will check off a box indicating that they are specifically applying for this scholarship. I will be sent a list of applicants prior to Antec for review.

3. Person of the year – Send your nominations for the person of the year to either Antoine or myself as soon as possible

4. SPE-DOW Educator of the year – I am in contact with Nikhil Verghese from Dow to: (i) clear up payment issues related to last year’s award. (ii) confirm that they will still participate this year. If all goes well, I will send out a call for nominations worldwide for this award in February as I did last year. I will have the nominator also provide two letters of recommendation. These will be reviewed by our expert panel of judges as we have done in the past.

5. Fellow submission – We had planned on submitting the Frank Henning’s SPE Fellow application this October. Frank was very busy travelling during that period and we therefore decided to defer his application until next year.

Best Regards, Phil Bates

CHAIRMAN MESSAGE

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

MEMBERSHIP REPORT

BOD MEETING Minutes

Awards

Councilor’s Report / Financial Report FUTURE EVENTS / others


NEWSLETTER Financial Report

CHAIRMAN MESSAGE

BOARD OF DIRECTORS (Detailed)

MEMBERSHIP REPORT

BOD MEETING Minutes

Awards



Councilor’s Report

SPE Council Meeting Report Southbury, CT

Sections Committee Multi-Section Membership --- The option of belonging to one or more sections is in its infancy stages. Sales/Technical people that cover wide territories like the possibility of belonging to more than one section at once. This would be done in a similar manner as the ability to join more than one technical division. K-Show Activities --- For those of you going to the K-show in late October there will be a European board meeting, a SPE booth, and a SPE reception on October 28th in Winter Garden room 1 between 6-7:30 PM. EUROTEC --- EUROTEC will be officially advertized / launched during the upcoming K-show. It is scheduled to occur November 14-15, 2011 in Barcelona Spain. Successions in Divisions/Sections --- A number of Sections have been severely adversely affected by nearly continuous chairs/proxies. Greg Campbell, chair of the By-Laws and Policy Committee, wanted feedback from Divisions/Sections in order to form a reasonable recommendation/policy. I already spoke to him about this, as did others, it appears that may sections/divisions have independently followed a two year model for their officers. ASIATEC --- ASIATEC is scheduled for February 15-17, 2011 in Tokyo Japan.

Divisions Committee Non-Halogenated Flame Retardant SIG --- A non-halogenated flame retardant SIG is in the forming stages. To this point there is no debate about this formation even from the polymer additive and modifier group. The official SIG petition is expected to be completed by the upcoming ANTEC. Top-Con Overlap --- A small committee was formed that will work in conjunction with the Conference committee to discuss ways of avoiding conferencing overlaps between the Divisions. The present ruling regarding ANTEC is now only 5 days before and 5 days after the closing of an ANTEC. Part of the reason for the bunching of the conferences is due to the holiday season and the avoidance of the ANTEC time period. Large conferences, such as our own ACCE and Polyolefins, will be left untouched.

CHAIRMAN MESSAGE


MEMBERSHIP REPORT

BOD MEETING Minutes

Awards




Membership --- It appears that the Composite Division is one of very few Divisions that managed to grow within all Divisions. There appears to be major shifts in membership where large divisions are losing out to smaller divisions which may be an indication of technology changes. Some discussion centered around the cost of secondary fees and whether this has had an adverse effect on secondary memberships. The primary methods of getting new members are Topcons and prospective membership lists. Primary retention methods include personal contact, recognition particularly in newsletters, and calling people on the suspended member’s list. There was also some discussion on opt in/opt out for e-mails. I mentioned the Composite Division’s activity where we provide free membership to promising composite division candidates. Mark Barger (Division Committee Chair) and Brent Strong (EC) are interested in knowing the statistics of these new members specifically what percentage of our new members come from this activity and what percentage stay after the free year is over.

ACTION: Aaron Bartel, could you provide this data? I will provide the necessary e-mail addresses.

Traveling Minitecs --- Len Czuba discussed the advantages of a traveling Minitec from one Section to the next to bolster membership growth and education value. CCOW The main topics of committee for council of the whole covered a review of upcoming by-lays and policies, candidate addresses, a survey on Barcelona travel for a council meeting at Eurotec in 2011, an upcoming policy measure on conference seed funds as some conferences appear to double dip from an accounting perspective, and a short presentation by Donna Davis on the “Will to Govern”. COUNCIL Dick Cowell/Bill McConnell Moment of Silence --- A moment of silence was held for both Dick Cowell and Bill McConnell. Dick Cowell was one of the original Composite Division board members, while Bill McConnell was well known for his expert seminars on Thermoforming. They will both be missed. Presidential Remarks --- Ken Braney Ken Braney reviewed his platform for improving membership, revenue, and membership involvement. New items in membership include a Yong Person’s Presentation Contest, the reactivation of the Membership Committee that will occur in Russell Broome’s term, and several section methods that include direct calling, café/bar gatherings, and member get a member programs. Membership levels as of July stand at 14,450. The corporate affiliation program and sponsorship is being pushed from SPE as another source of income. They would like to have each Division/Section provide active sponsor lists to bolster sagging sponsorships at ANTEC and other events and to attempt to get more corporate affiliations.

CHAIRMAN MESSAGE


MEMBERSHIP REPORT

BOD MEETING Minutes

Awards




Staff Update --- Susan Oderwald Tobi Gebauer position was eliminated. SPE is updating their present enterprise system. They will be going with a new AVECTRA system that will enable better self management, currency conversions, easier event functionality with regard to registration, calendaring, etc. This new system is slated to start on October 1st. Unlike previous years where SPE has asked an outside agency to find sponsors at ANTEC, this year they would prefer internal support from Sections and Divisions. Contributing leads will receive a cut of the sponsor funds. Membership Rates --- Tom Conklin SPE retains roughly 80% of members and recent numbers suggest a slowing of the membership loss from -2443 members in the first six months of 2009 to -100 numbers in the first six months of 2010. The new membership dues are as follows: New Members Special Rate New: $87 Discounted: $109 Full New Membership: $144 Renewing Members Very Early Bird Special: $99 Early Bird Special: $109 Full Price: $129 2 year renewal rate: $99 per year 3 year renewal rate: $87 per year Foundation/Corporate Outreach --- Gail Bristol Foundation investment levels reside near 1.6 million dollars with thirty students receiving combined awards up to $105,000. Foundation’s surplus rests at $28,725. The Pittsburg Section presented a check of $5000 to SPE’s foundation. Corporate outreach continues to be a major focus of SPE. To this point in time three companies have signed up for this service (K-Tron/Chemtrusion/Ticona). Elections

President Elect --- Jim Griffing Senior Vice President --- Jon Ratzlaff Vice Present --- Vijay Boolani Chair of Council of the Whole --- Dick Cameron Communication Excellence Award --- Monika Verheij Guidelines for the communication award (newsletter/webpages/other forms) are available on the web just above the Pinnacle Award criteria. The due date for entering this competition is December 30-31st.

CHAIRMAN MESSAGE


MEMBERSHIP REPORT

BOD MEETING Minutes

Awards




ACTION: Should the Composite Division go for this award? Student Activity Committees --- Steve McCarthy The committee is starting to examine the criteria for student chapter activation policy as there are many student chapters on the books without an SPE advisor or any sponsorship from a section or division. Last year this committee eliminated ushers and sessions devoted to students while creating a student poster session award, a student welcome reception, CDP Plastics Plant Tour, and a student luncheon. Funds for the student poster and travel came from a number of sections and divisions. This coming year the student poster session will be expanded and moved to a time of 6:30 PM to avoid conflicts with regular sections. Students can also present papers provided that they are coauthored by their advisor and that the papers pass acceptable SPE criteria. Budget Review and Approval --- Scott Owens Scott Owens provided a very thorough review of this year’s cash flow and budget. Information from the budget was already provided to the Composite Division from in our previous fall meeting. The budget was ultimately approved, and the expectation is that we will be slightly profitable this year, with the potential of a 300K profit in 2011. PAOM/SPC (Strategic Planning Committee) --- Lance Neward The proposed alternative operating method will now fall under the jurisdiction of the Strategic Planning Committee. This committee will be further composed of three subcommittees called the Structural Development Team led by Jim Griffing, the Financial Factor Team led by Brent Strong, and the Leadership 2020 team led by Dick Bopp. The Structural Development team discusses the best way of providing reorganization. The first step in the process was to review a council survey on PAOM. Most councilors like the idea of having more than one Section affiliation, but frowned on the potential perceived dual governance layer. The Financial Factors Team, who will work in conjunction with the Structural Development team, will examine a functional matrix to define how the new organization would handle ANTECs, membership, etc. and whether the new concept is affordable or not. The final team examines the long range view of SPE. All of this is very new and very much in the inception stages. The one good outcome that has come out of all of this deliberation is the ability to join more than one section of a member chooses to do so. 2011-2012 Operating Plan and Calendar Update --- Russell Broome Russell outlined a number of concepts for his upcoming term. These include: The addition of an Ad-Hoc member to the Executive committee to cover the Plastic Educator SIG area as Russell believes that we must tie in much more closely with younger society members. He plans to fold the Continuous Council Improvement Team activities into COW. Forming a number of ad-hoc committees to address specific issues such as SPE Asia, SPE Middle East, Membership, Editorial Advisory Board, Student Chapter Oversight Committee, Student Competition Task Force, Mission and Vision Relevancy Task Force, Outreach Committee.

CHAIRMAN MESSAGE


MEMBERSHIP REPORT

BOD MEETING Minutes

Awards




By-Laws/Policies --- Greg Campbell First By-Law Readings Council Meeting Times/Places By-Law (6.2.2): Provides criteria for timing for regular meeting and special meetings. PASSED by 2/3 Vacancies and Successions By-Law (7.6): This by-law revision addresses the line of command and how vacancies will be backfilled prior to the next council meeting. The line of succession goes from President to President Elect to Senior Vice President. Vacancies are temporarily filled by the EC until the next council meeting occurs. PASSED by 2/3 Section Affiliation By-Law (4.4.4): This addition to the by-laws allows members to belong to more than one section in a similar manner as members can now belong to one or more divisions. PASSED by 2/3 Second By-Law Readings Total Council Membership By-Law (6.2.4): This by-law revision treats every section and division the same whether they reside on domestic or foreign soil. PASSED by 2/3. Proxies By-Law (6.2.5): This by-law revision states that proxies must be members of the division or section that they represent. There was some discussion on this particular topic as many felt that it was premature to allow this by-law to go through without the 4.4.4 by-law regarding additional section membership. MOTION TABLED UNTIL NEXT COUNCIL MEETING. Policies Policy 002 Refinement --- The Pinnacle award for council attendance was reduced to ½ of the council meeting attendance. PASSED Respectfully Submitted Dr. Dale Grove Composite Division Council Chair Council of the Whole

CHAIRMAN MESSAGE


MEMBERSHIP REPORT

BOD MEETING Minutes

Awards



Support Composites Division’s Newsletter

CHAIRMAN MESSAGE


MEMBERSHIP REPORT

BOD MEETING Minutes

Awards


Support the SPE Composites Division!

REACH 1,000 COMPOSITES PROFESSIONALS 3 TIMES A YEAR Your support is needed to continue the growth and prosperity of our division. Please support us by sponsoring our Electronic Newsletter which is published on the SPE Composites Div. Website and emailed to all Division Members (1,000 approx.) 3 times annually. Contact: Teri Chouinard CBC, APR SPE Composites Division Sponsorship Chair C/O Intuit Group, LLC Phone: 810.797.7242 Fax: 810.797.7243 E-mail [email protected] We accept eps, gif, jpeg, word doc. and pdf files. High resolution graphics work best though. Advertising with the SPE Composites Division is inexpensive and easy. Please help us to promote the benefits of Composites in Industry!

We are renewing the newsletter

sponsorship for 2011. Please Contact Teri Chouinard

as soon as possible!!


Composites Division’s Website

The D39 Division is in the process reviving its website. The website will be a great source of information for all of its

members. Please feel free to explore the website at the following address.

www.compositeshelp.com

CHAIRMAN MESSAGE


MEMBERSHIP REPORT

BOD MEETING Minutes

Awards



Communications Report

PUBLICITY UPDATE SPE Composites Division BOD Meeting

February 1, 2011 ACMA, Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Website

Traffic averaging 125-225 hits/month last 5 months Spike in traffic at initial 2011 ACCE announcements

Updated front page and ACCE page of site Feb-1

CHAIRMAN MESSAGE

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

MEMBERSHIP REPORT

BOD MEETING Minutes

Awards

Councilor’s Report / financial Reports FUTURE EVENTS / Others


Communications Report

Updates needed for:

o BOD photos and bios o Composites news stories and links o Need to work with Pritam Das and combine with Newsletter updates to keep current

Yahoo! domain registration:

o Cost ~$130/year Renewed January 31, 2011 Updated credit card payment info

o CompositesHelp.com registered to “Terry Creasy” Needs to be changed to “SPE Composites Division” Contact info changed to Michael Connolly Needs petition from Terry for ownership change of domain

CompositesHelp.com needs “cleaner”, more “professional” look:

o See www.speautomotive.com for comparison o See information from Malnati and Associates for “food for thought” on mechanism and cost

to switch to www.1and1.com. ~$3500 to start Remain at ~$120+ annually BOD Communications/Publicity Chair can be trained to maintain

CHAIRMAN MESSAGE

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

MEMBERSHIP REPORT

BOD MEETING Minutes

Awards



Future Events / Education Report

EDUCATION ACTIVITY REPORT (Fall 2010-Spring 2011)

Uday Vaidya, PhD Professor, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294

Phone: 205-934-9199; website: www.uab.edu/composites

A summary of the education activities and opportunities for the Fall 2010-Spring 2011 period are summarized. Various education initiatives have been undertaken.

1) Support of industry in terms of workshops, short courses, on-site training and conferences

a) An on-site 2-day workshop on Composites Design and Manufacturing for Trucks is being planned for Daimler Truck, North America at Portland, Oregon in March 2011. The targeted audience includes 10-15 technical personnel – engineers, technicians and managers. Technologies including design, processing, process modeling manufacturing issues with SMC, BMC, thermoplastic composite parts relevant to trucks and heavy vehicles will be covered. The instructors are Rob Seats (Ashland), Cedric Ball (BMCI) and Uday Vaidya (UAB). For more information on this, or to request a workshop/short course for your organization, please contact us as SPE.

b) 2-short courses (workshops) are being offered in late spring and summer on the following topics-

- Design, analysis and process modeling of composites for automotive and ground transportation (April 12-13, 2011). This will be held in Birmingham, Alabama at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) campus with web-based access for remote participants. Hands-on activities and manufacturing demonstrations will be available for on-site participants.

- Emerging opportunities for bio-composites in transportation (July 2011, Date and location TBD). Web-based access will be made available for remote participants.

If you are interested in participating in any of these, please send an e-mail to Dr.Vaidya at [email protected] and details (rate, dates, hotel info. etc) will be sent.

2) Involvement of Students in SPE and the ACCE meeting

It is our goal to increase student participation at the ACCE and related SPE meetings. At the ACCE 2010 conference, 12 student posters from 8 universities were presented and judged by peer-group. We have plans to expand SPE Composites sponsored student poster session at the upcoming ACCE 2011 meeting. Please encourage students in your local areas to participate and present their research and education activities for the ACCE 2011 meeting. Senior design teams from different schools working on Baja, Formula Car and Solar Car are seeking weight reduction to become more competitive in their respective competition. The ACCE 2011 conference will feature composite intensive vehicles resulting from these activities at different institutions. These vehicles will be showcased by various student teams at the ACCE 2011.

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Future Events / Education Report

3) High-school and community colleges outreach activities

The SPE education activities are leveraging outreach activities such as Saturday Academy, Introduction to Freshmen Engineering, Freshmen Design and 1-day short courses for high school and community college students that involve use of plastics and composites. SPE student chapters across the country have been encouraged to host seminars, a hands-on activity and encouragement to visit SPE events to expose students to plastics and composites technologies. 50+ students will participate March-April 2011 to make and fly composite Rockets in Birmingham, Alabama as a way to introduce them to plastics.

4) Educational Book

A comprehensive book (450 pages educational resource) on Composites for Automotive, Mass Transit and Heavy Trucks has been published in August 2010 by DesTech Publishers. The book may be purchased from any internet site such as Amazon.com or directly from the publisher www.destech.com.

5) New Addition

The SPE education committee welcomes Roger Kipp, McClarin Plastics – Expert in Thermoforming to assist with various education activities.

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APPENDIX

Sources of Images at front page of the newsletter, March, 2010 edition Composite Humvee: http://carscoop.blogspot.com/2007/09/all-composite-humvee-900-pounds-lighter.html Boeing 787: http://widebodyaircraft.nl/b787roll.jpg Space Elevator: http://www.blog.speculist.com/archives/2004_12.html Spaceshipone: www.space-tourism.ws/scaled-composites.htm Carbon Weave: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kohlenstofffasermatte.jpg High Speed Boats: http://www.greenpacks.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/earthrace_biodiesel_boat.jpg Wind Mill: http://i1.trekearth.com/photos/2720/windmills_at_sea.jpg Composites Windows: www.milgard.com Aptera Hybrid Car: http://www.autoblog.com/2006/01/18/a-330-mpg-car-for-everyone/ Multiwall Carbon Nanotube: http://www.nanotech-now.com/ Biocompoistes in Car: http://www.fao.org/docrep/004/Y1873E/y1873e0u.jpg Cellulose Whiskers: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080104145322.htm Attached is paper that was presented at was presented at the AVK (Germany) in September of 2010. The presentation was widely received along with a lot of positive feedback on the quality of the data

and presentation.

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The effects of types of coupling agent and fiber glass type on the mechanical properties of PP LFT materials Der Einfluss von Kopplungsagens und Glasfasertypen auf die mechanischen Eigenschaften von PP-LFT Materialien

Jaap van der Woude1, Creig Bowland2 PPG Industries Inc.

Abstract

In order to understand the relevant parameters that determine the properties of Long Fiber Reinforced Polypropylene Thermoplastics two important aspects have been studied. First, the effects of glass type of sizing and glass content, amount of maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene additives (coupling agent) and melt flow of the resin are presented. Various samples of Polypropylene Long Fiber Thermoplastics pellets (PP GLFT) were compounded with various coupling agent loadings and using different melt flow homopolymer polypropylene resins. The glass content of the pellets was varied from 30% to 50%, molded and tested. Second, as part of the above relationships the properties of the maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene additives (coupling agents) are studied and correlations between the maleic anhydride content, melt flow, and base polymer used analyzed through compounding with various coupling agents. The materials were then molded and tested. The results of the study are presented which show that both properties and cost can be maximized.

Introduction

Long Fiber Thermoplastics (LFT) has enjoyed a long run of double digit growth and have found general acceptance as structural materials. PP LFT materials offer strength and stiffness and are recyclable having a long shelf life. Consequently, their introduction has lead to an increased penetration of the automotive market for structural thermoplastic composites. These applications typically are metal replacement and facilitate both part weight reduction and part consolidation. Polypropylene based Long Fiber Thermoplastics (PP LFT) are the largest segment of this market and are also experiencing the largest growth. Within the PP LFT segment there are three distinct methods of making and using these materials. The classic method is the pultrusion impregnation and/or cross head extrusion method of generating LFT pellets that are subsequently injection molded. For the purpose of this paper this type of material is labeled Granulate Long Fiber Thermoplastics (GLFT). The second main method of producing LFT is In Line Compounding(IC). Within the IC segment there are two distinct methods of producing parts. In one method, the IC material is compression molded into parts in a process similar to that used for the manufacture of Glass Mat Thermoplastics and thermoset parts. In the second method the IC material is fed directly into an injection molding machine for either standard Injection molding or Injection

1 Dr. JHA van der Woude, Associate Director, Thermoplastics

PPG Industries Fiber Glass BV PO Box 50 9600AB Hoogezand, The Netherlands [email protected] 2 Creig Bowland, Research Associate

PPG Industries Inc. 940 Washburn Switch Road Shelby, NC 28150, USA [email protected]

compression molding. For the purpose of this paper both are labeled as Direct Long Fiber Thermoplastics (DLFT) and are differentiated as compression and injection DLFT. PP LFT materials exhibit their best performance when the polypropylene resin has Maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene added to the matrix. The amount and characteristics of this additive are well documented in short glass polypropylene compounds [1-4] but are not well reported for PP LFT materials [5]. There are a number of factors that affect the performance of the coupling agent in PP LFT parts.

� Coupling Agent concentration

� Maleic Anhydride grafting levels in the coupling agent

� Melt Flow (MFI) of the Coupling agent.

� Fiber glass content and sizing

� Polypropylene properties such as MFI, molecular weight and crystallinity.

� Mold Design and temperature

� Method of making PP LFT: GLFT vs. IC DLFT. The DLFT and GLFT processes are

distinct and can lead to different part performance based upon the heat history, ultimate

fiber length retention, fiber orientation in the part and time at temperature to allow

effective coupling.

Anybody skilled in LFT technology is acutely aware of the importance of the importance of composition of resin as characterized by its MFI, the type of glass fiber as to impregnation and reactivity and of course type and concentration of the coupling agent In this study results are presented and analyzed in order to understand these relevant parameters that determine properties of Long Fiber Reinforced Polypropylene Thermoplastics. Two important aspects have been investigated. First, the effect of glass type of sizing and glass content, amount of maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene additives (coupling agent) and melt flow of the resin are reviewed. Various samples of Polypropylene Long Fiber Thermoplastics pellets (PP GLFT) were compounded with various coupling agent loadings and using different melt flow homopolymer polypropylene resins, molded and tested. The glass content of the pellets was varied from 30% to 60%. Second, as part of the above relationships the properties of the maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene additives (coupling agents) are studied and correlations between the maleic anhydride content, melt flow, and base polymer used analyzed through compounding with various coupling agents. The materials were then molded and tested. The results of the study will show that both properties and cost can be maximized.

Experimental

PPG TufRov® 4599, 4573 and 4575 2400 tex 17 micron fiber glass roving were processed through a

cross head pultrusion GLFT line and pelletized into 12 mm (1/2 inch) long pellets. Both TufRov® 4573 and

4575 have a higher specific reactivity to the Maleic Anhydride coupling agent and provide excellent mechanical property performance in PP GLFT. TufRov

® 4575 is also designed for excellent hot water

and color performance. Homopolymer polypropylene from Total Petrochemicals grade 3860X 100 MFI resin was used. Two distinct sets of experiments were done. In the part of this study a comparison of performance as a function of amount of coupling agent at a variety of glass contents was evaluated. Other ingredients used include:

• Polyram BondyRam® 1001 100 MFI Maleic Anhydride grafted PP with 1% Maleic Anhydride

(w/w)

• A heat stabilizer package

• Carbon Black The heat stabilizer package used will allow the molded parts to survive stringent 1000 hour heat stability tests at 140 ⁰C as per current automotive standards. Glass content of the pellets was controlled to produce GLFT materials of 60% glass loading (w/w). The coupling agent loading was varied from 0.25%

to 3% (w/w) with samples being collected at each coupling agent loading. In some additional trials the polypropylene resin was varied to determine the effects of different melt flow homopolymer grades upon the mechanical properties of the molded GLFT parts. In this part of the study the glass content was held constant at 50% and the coupling agent loading was held constant at 2% (w/w). Total homopolymer polypropylene 3860X (100 MFI), 3925WZ (60 MFI), 3825WZ (30 MFI) and Huntsman P4G3Z-039 (5 MFI) homopolymer polypropylene were used in the formulations. Samples were subsequently dried at 120 ⁰C for four hours and the moisture was measured for each sample prior to molding with maximum allowed moisture of 0.6% (w/w). A Van Dorn 55 injection molding machine was used for molding test specimens. A free flow check valve was installed on the screw tip prior to the initiation of this work. The mold used was standard ISO tensile test specimen mold with large diameter sprues and runners and large radius curves. The gate is a fan gate to the tensile specimens. The mold is a balanced design producing two tensile specimens per shot. Impact and flex specimens were cut from the tensile bars by removing the tab section of the specimen. All test specimens conformed to ISO requirements. The exact profile used for the molding is recorded in Table I.

Table I: Van Dorn 55 Injection Molding Profile for GLFT specimens

Molding Profile

Rear Zone 225⁰C

Center Zone 240⁰C

Front Zone 250⁰C

Nozzle 250⁰C

Mold 50⁰C

Shot Size, inch 2.25

Boost Pressure , psi 1000

Injection Speed in/s 1.5

Hold Pressure, psi 925

Screw Speed 90

Back Pressure, psi 50

Unless otherwise stated, all mechanical property testing was performed at 23⁰C and at a relative humidity of 50%. All testing was done in the A2LA accredited laboratory at the PPG Fiber Glass Science and Technology Center in Shelby, North Carolina. Tensile properties were tested according to ISO 527-2 using 10 specimens and a crosshead rate of 5 mm/min (0.2 in/min) with an extensometer gauge length of 50 mm (2 in). Flex properties were tested according to ISO 14125 using 10 specimens and a crosshead rate of 2.0 mm/min (0.8 in/min) and a span of 64 mm (2.56 in). Charpy notched impact properties were tested according to ISO 179-1 with 10 specimens and a Type A notch. Charpy UnNotched impact properties were tested according to ISO 179-1. The second part of this study makes use of a variety of commercially available polypropylene based coupling agents with varying levels of Maleic Anhydride and varying melt flows. See Table II for details. In addition the same heat stabilizer package and carbon black is used. The second study was executed and evaluated under the same experimental conditions as described above.

Table II: Coupling Agent Data

Sample # CC MFI % MAH

By titration % MAH By FTIR

CC-A 318 0.68 0.75

CC-B 240 0.67 0.73

CC-C 123 0.56 0.59

CC-D 3.5 0** 0.15

CC-E 317 0.77 0.66

CC-F 25 0.34 0.35

CC-G 135 0.68 0.54

CC-H 95 0.79 0.81

CC-I 88 1.14 0.89

CC-J 148 0.90 0.95

**Unable to dissolve in Hot Toluene

Melt Flow was tested for each coupling agent according to ISO 1133 at 190⁰C using a 2.16 kg weight. The Maleic anhydride levels in the coupling agents were measured by two methods. The first method is an FTIR method. The second method was a titration. The coupling agents were dissolved in hot Toluene followed by titration with alcoholic potassium hydroxide. A third method was attempted by looking for the maleic group adsorption with NMR. However, this method was not sensitive enough to detect the functional groups.

Results and discussion

Section 1: Glass Fiber, Glass Content, Maleic Acid and Resin MFI

The results of the study for the three fiber glass grades used in the PP GLFT materials mimic each other. The trends and relative changes in performance are similar. The differences in the fiber glass grades evaluated are related to the sizing on the fiber and the interfacial adhesion promotion with the resin that each offers. TufRov

® 4599 is a polypropylene compatible fiber that has been on the market for several

years and TufRov® 4575 is a new composition with improved properties, whereas TufRov

® 4573 is an

intermediate grade that is not commercially available. Figure 1 shows the performance of the fibers in Tensile Strength. The three dimensional curves overlay each other and are offset by the improvement shown in performance with 4575. Figure 1 demonstrates the extremely important role of the amount of coupling agent plays as to the performance of PP GLFT composite. The lowest, a 0.5%, coupling agent was chosen to try and find the lower limit of coupling agent for PP GLFT. Reasonable properties are achievable with either one of these fiber glass samples at a loading of 1.5% to 2% in the 30% and 40% glass samples. With higher glass content there is a trend to higher properties with greater loadings of Maleic Anhydride coupling agent and this is attributable to the larger surface area of fiber. The coupling agent is attracted to the amino silane functional group on the fiber glass and bridges the interfacial area between the resin and fiber. Property patterns for flexural as well as impact strength are similar as to the performance of 4575 vs the others.

Fiber glass sizing and coupling agent loading The fiber glass sizing plays a major role in the performance of PP GLFT composites. Figure 1 shows that

Figure 1: TufRov

® 4599, 4573 and 4575 2400 tex 17 micron Tensile strength vs % coupling

agent and % Fiber Glass in PP GLFT Composites

with an identical formulation the TufRov® 4575 gives a 14% to 20% improvement in mechanical properties

when compared to TufRov® 4599, especially at high glass contents. This indicates that 4575 is superior

to 4599 in PP LFT applications and this advantage can be used by the formulator to reduce costs. The coupling agent loading can be reduced in the formulation when using 4575 and still achieve the same or superior performance. Thus, by switching fiber glass and reducing the coupling agent the overall cost of the composites can be lowered.

Figure 2: Tensile Strength versus Coupling Agent Loading 4575 225 yield Fiber Glass

Because of the similarity in performance and trends, the remainder of the results and discussion shall focus on results generated with TufRov

® 4575. Figure 2 and Figure 3 show that there is very little benefit

to the use of higher loading of the coupling agent for either 30% or 40% PP GLFT both for tensile and flexural strength.

Figure 3: Flex Strength versus Coupling Agent Loading 4575 225 yield Fiber Glass

Indeed, there may be very good reasons for not adding too much coupling agent to the formulation. Some studies have indicated that the addition of excess coupling agent reduces the crystallinity of the PP and can be detrimental to the mechanical performance of the composite [1]. However; there is a continued improvement in 50% PP GLFT with higher doses of coupling agent. More data needs to be generated, but it is possible that the 50% data would better fit as a curve with a drop off in properties below 2% coupling agent. Further work needs to be done to determine the % glass content vs. % Maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene for peak performance in PP GLFT. The relevance of nature and composition of coupling agents with various levels of Maleic Anhydride and different melt flows as to overall performance will be addressed later in this paper.

Figure 4: UnNotched Impact Strength versus Coupling Agent Loading 4575 225 yield Fiber Glass

Figure 4 and Figure 5 show the relationship between coupling agent loading and performance in Charpy Impact. Notched and Un-Notched Charpy both show similar trends in performance with changing levels of coupling agent. As with both Tensile and Flex strength, the 30% and 40% glass content PP GLFT show little or no improvement with the addition of more coupling agent once you have reached a level that supplies enough Maleic Anhydride to the surface of the fiber glass. The 50% glass products show a significant drop in performance until at least 2% coupling agent is present. The scatter in the data for the Notched Charpy data does not allow this differentiation and it is only visible in the more reliable Un-Notched test data.

Figure 5: Notched Impact Strength versus Coupling Agent Loading 4575 225 yield Fiber Glass

Figure 6 shows the effect of coupling agent loading and glass content on Flexural Modulus. As is expected, the glass content is the controlling variable for modulus and the coupling agent loading has little effect.

Maleic Anhydride and glass loading In PP GLFT composites the best performance is obtained with the addition of a Maleic Anhydride coupling agent. A nominal level is necessary for optimal performance at any given glass loading. With PPG TufRov

® 4576 and TufRov

® 4599 a 1.2% to 2% coupling agent loading delivers acceptable

properties at 30% and 40% glass loading. The coupling agent levels must be increased as the glass content increases and a 2% minimum coupling agent loading is necessary for 50% glass content. For 50% glass loading the 2% coupling agent level is minimal and the data indicates that higher levels could deliver better properties. The concentration and performance of the coupling agent are dependent upon the grade of Maleic Anhydride grafted polypropylene used. Higher Maleic Content in the coupling agent may allow lower coupling agent levels in the composite. Typically, the higher Maleic Anhydride content coupling agents are also higher melt flow. This may have a beneficial affect as well, allowing better migration of the coupling agent to the fiber surface. Since the coupling agent is one of the most expensive components of the PP GLFT matrix; controlling the amount and formulation of coupling agent used can have a significant financial effect. One thing is certain, the level of coupling agent is important to control for cost purposes. The use of excess coupling agent has no beneficial effects. The modulus of the composite is controlled by the amount of fiber glass in the formulation and is not affected in any significant way by the presence of coupling agent. This follows the classic rule of mixtures that is commonly used to predict the modulus of a fiber glass composite.

Figures 7 and 8 show the relationship between strength as well as impact properties and the polypropylene MFI used in the PP GLFT formulation at a constant loading of 50% by weight TufRov

®

4573 fiberglass. The data indicates that both strengths as well as impact are higher with the high melt flow polymer while there is no change in impact properties with the change in base polypropylene.

As can be observed in Figure 9 the HDT data also indicated better performance with the higher melt flow polymer. Furthermore, the rate of production dropped in the cross head pultrusion process with the higher viscosity resin and the wet out and quality of the pellets produced decreased with lower MFI. The data from this study indicate that optimal properties for PP GLFT are achieved with a homopolymer MFI between 60 to 100 MFI.

MFI PP resin The melt flow of the homopolymer polypropylene used in PP GLFT production has an interesting effect upon the performance and properties of the composite and is counter intuitive at first glance. One would expect that the impact and HDT would be influenced positively as the MFI of the resin decreases and the molecular weight of the polypropylene increases. However there are a number of clues to explain these results. The leading theory is that the impregnation and wet out of the fiber glass is better with the higher melt flow resin. This leads to better load transfer between the resin and fiber glass and controls the relationship between MFI and properties [3,4, 6-8]. The lower impregnation efficiency also leads to higher loss of fiber length during the molding process. This is the second major contributor to the lower mechanical properties. Published reports indicate that the faster the PP GLFT process runs, the lower the properties and this can be attributed to the decrease in wet out and load transfer with the higher through put for a given resin and fiber glass formulation [3,4.6.7]. Confirmation of this is found in the HDT data where the HDT increases with lower MFI PP resin. All four of the resins used in this trial have the same reported melt temperature.

Section 2: Effects of coupling agent properties

Sofar the importance of composition of resin as characterized by its MFI and the type of glass fiber as to impregnation and reactivity and concentration of the coupling agent is characterized clearly showing the importance of the right glass fiber and resin type to guarantee system properties control and cost. As to the coupling agents available a thorough study has been missing sofar as to understand their properties under controlled manufacturing and testing conditions. This relevant also to understand whether and where there is an upper limit in mechanical properties, since at some point the resin matrix will not be able to support further reinforcement. Published reports indicate this drop off in performance may happen around the 60% glass loading, but the ultimate load bearing characteristics of the polypropylene based composite may be dependent upon the fiber glass sizing composition, resin properties and the properties of the coupling agent. Here a comprehensive study of the load bearing limit of PP GLFT composites as well as the effect of coupling agent properties will be presented. Initial evaluations of the various coupling agents in 50% glass filled PP GLFT indicated that there was a strong correlation between the coupling agent properties and the mechanical properties of the composite. 10 different coupling agents were collected and processed in the GLFT line in Shelby NC to produce 60% glass filled PP GLFT samples. In this part of the study the glass content, the base resin and the fiberglass roving (TufRov

® 4575) were all kept constant. The mechanical properties of the composites

were evaluated against the reported % Maleic Anhydride (MAH) and the MFI. However, it was impossible to get a correlation between these reported values and the properties. Figure 10 shows the results of some of the initial work done. The initial indication was that the melt flow and the Maleic Anhydride loading both played a part in the effectiveness of the coupling agent. The tensile strength measurements

show that some coupling agent give acceptable results at very low loading and others may never yield the result at any loading. It has been established by us that the same pattern can be observed for impact strength. It has to be emphasized too that these effects become more pronounced at higher glass contents where reactivity, maleic anhydride availability and impregnation become more critical as to the properties reached. Upon further evaluation it became apparent that each coupling agent supplier measured the % MAH and MFI differently. Thus an independent evaluation of both %MAH and MFI was undertaken for all samples. This data is what was used to complete the evaluation of the effects on the composite properties. Table II reports the results of this independent evaluation on all 10 coupling agents.

Figure 10

Using the MFI and % MAH as evaluated internally the data became much easier to evaluate. Figure 11 shows the response of Flexural Strength in 60% glass filled PP GLFT verses the % MAH and the MFI of the coupling agent. The % MAH is reported as % MAH in the coupling agent. There are a number of trends that can be extracted from Figure 11. First: The maximum Flexural Strength obtained is almost 280 MPa. This is a phenomenally high Flex strength for a Polypropylene based composite. Second: The higher the MFI of the coupling agent, the better the Flex strength is. Third: The higher the MAH

loading, the better the Flex strength. The trends break down slightly at low coupling agent loadings but this may be because of an incomplete coverage of the fiberglass with coupling agent. The amount of coupling agent needed to obtain the maximum Flexural strength in a 60% (w/w) LFT part is also low at 1% MAH with TufRov 4575 fiberglass. TufRov 4575 has a highly reactive sizing system that enhances the coupling agent performance. With other less reactive sizing systems a large dose of coupling agent is needed to obtain equivalent properties. Figure 12 shows the response of the Tensile Strength to the % MAH and MFI of the coupling agents in the same composites. The trends are similar to those seen in Graph 2 but with a drop in properties with the very high MFI coupling agents at high % MAH loadings. The peak performance appears to be with a coupling agent MFI of no more than 250 MFI. The exact mechanism for this reduction is not apparent. The Flexural Strength does not show the same effects and the differences in behavior may be due to the change from pure tensile failure in the tensile test to a combination of tensile and compression failure that is prevalent in the Flexural testing.

Figure 11 Figure 12

Figure 13 shows the same materials measured in Un-Notched Charpy Impact. The UnNotched Charpy results are inverse to the results seen in Tensile and Flex. This is the normal effect seen in composites where the materials become brittle as the strength is increased. This is not normally seen in PP GLFT samples. Typically all three properties rise as the adhesion and additives packages are improved. However, at these very high glass loadings and with the reactive sizing available on TufRov

® 4575 a

more classic relationship between Impact, Tensile and Flexural properties becomes obvious. This is indicative that maximum mechanical properties in PP GLFT have been obtained.

As to the effect of the type of coupling agent the user has to take care to make the right choice for the system. In doing that it is not sufficient to use the supplier data, but measure both MFI and maleic anhydride content. A higher MFI and maleic anhydride content of the specific coupling agent generally leads to better results. However care has to be taken that a good balance of impact and strength is obtained especially at high glass loadings.

In the earlier part of this work a series of studies were done with one specific coupling agent, BondyRam®

1001 and TufRov® 4575. Coupling agent loadings were varied from 0.5% to 3%. Furthermore, the glass

content was varied from 30% (w/w) to 53% (w/w). The tensile strength numbers obtained in this study are shown in Figure 14. For each glass content there is an observed coupling agent loading for maximum performance. Any further addition of coupling agent at that glass content does not improve the Tensile strength. For 30% glass 0.5% coupling agent is enough. For 40% glass 1% coupling agent is enough and for 53% glass the best performance is with 2% coupling agent. For other coupling agents and other rovings these maximums will be different.

Figure 13

For this specific example, a highly reactive, thus effective sizing the effective use to reach this maximum was calculated and is presented in Table III as a function of glass content. Allred [9] indicated that good interfacial adhesion could be obtained in an unsized carbon fiber reinforced composite with one (1) covalent bond between resin and fiber every 100 square Angstroms (1 nm

2) of surface on the fiber. A

simple calculation was done to see if the density of coupling agent in the composite follows this trend first observed by Allred.

Figure 14

Table III MAH Loading Levels and Fiber Surface Area

Fiberglass % (w/w) Fiberglass surface Area/kg PP LFT (m

2)

Observed Optimal Density of MAH/nm

2

30% 27.38 7.32

40% 36.43 11

53% 48.54 16

For Long Fiber Polypropylene and fiberglass materials there seems to be a higher density or ratio of coupling agent needed compared to that needed in a thermoset composite. This can be attributed to the fact that the coupling agent is dispersed in the matrix and to be effective have to couple to silanes at the glass surface. Apparently this process happens with a low yield and worse if the suboptimal systems are used as to resin MFI, type of fiber glass (sizing) and finally the right coupling agent i.e. MFI and maleic anhydride content.

Summary

It has been experimentally demonstrated that fiber glass sizing, resin MFI and type of coupling agent matters for LFT parts performance, quality and cost. A higher resin MFI, a coupling agent that allows easy wetting of the filaments with adequate loadings of grafted maleic anhydride in combination with the right, reactive fiber glass product can provide optimal and enabling results. These can be tailored for cost and performance. Care must be taken in choosing a source of coupling agents because of the various methods used to report the Melt flow and MAH loading. The commercially available coupling agents all measure these properties differently and direct comparison of properties will require internal verification of MAH loading and MFI.

It has to be realized also that in contrast to for instance thermoset systems [9] an excess of coupling reactant has to be made available as it is dispersed in the matrix and needs to migrate during processing to the interface to promote adhesion. It is here where the key properties come together, resin MFI, reactivity of the fiber glass sizing and coupling agent MFI and MAH concentration for the right properties by selecting the right raw materials and conditions.

As a final point of attention one has to realize that in the G-LFT process materials experience through the double heating process of pulltrusion and later injection molding more opportunity for reactants to come together. This of course as we learned is also dependent on the glass content of the system. In a one step process like D-LFT it can be expected that the optimal balance of components for the right properties is even more critical, also because for reasons of oxidative stability of the blob temperatures are kept somewhat lower. It has therefore to be stressed that is extremely important for the part’s properties, quality and cost to make an educated choice on the basis of the here presented principles, where in our opinion good wetting and impregnation for one step processes is even more important to watch..

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank C. Wilson, R. Hooper and D. Washburn for their assistance and support.

References

1. Hong, C.H., Lee, Y.B., Bae,J.W., Jho,J.Y., Nam, B.U., Hwang,T.W., “Molecular Weight Effect of Compatibilizer on Mechanical Properties of Polypropylene/Clay Nanocomposites”, J. Ind. Eng. Chem. Vol. 11, No.2, (2005) pp. 293-296.

2. Cantwell,W.J.,Tato,W.,Kausch,H.H., “The Influence of a Fiber-Matrix Coupling Agent on the Properties of a Glass Fiber/Polypropylene GMT”, J Thermoplastic Composites Materials, Vol.5, Oct 1992, pp.304-317.

3. Bailey, R.S., Lehr,W.,Moore,D.R.,Robinson,I.M.,Rutter,P.M., “Long Fibre Reinforced Thermoplastics for Injection Moulding: The Relationship between Impregnation and Properties”, Dev. Sci. Technol. Compos. Matter, Eur. Conf. Compos. Mater., 4th (1990), pp.1037-42

4. Bailey, R. S.; Moore, D. R.; Robinson, I. M.; Rutter, P. M., “The effect of impregnation on the microstructure of long fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites and their consequence on deformation and toughness”, Science and Engineering of Composite Materials (1993), 2(3), pp.171-94.

5. Thomason, J.L., “The influence of fibre length and concentration on the properties of glass fiber reinforced polypropylene: 5. Injection moulded long and short fibre PP,” Comosites: Part A 33 (2002) pp. 1641-1652.

6. Kim, H.C., “Toughening mechanisms of Long-Fiber-Reinforced Thermoplastics”, Society of Automotive Engineers, [Special Publication] SP (1998), SP-1340(Plastics: Components, Processes, and Technology), pp.167-171.

7. Grove,D.A.,Kim,H.C., “Effect of Constituents on the Fatigue Behavior of Long Fiber Reinforced Thermoplastics”, ANTEC Conference Proceedings, (1995), pp. 3003-3007.

8. Thomason,J.L.,Schoolenberg,G.E., “An investigation of glass fibre/polypropylene interface strength and its effect on composite properties”. Composites Vol. 25, No 3, (1994), pp.197-203.

9. Allred, R.E., and Wesson, S.P. “Surface Characterization of Sized and Desized Toray M40J Carbon Fibers,” SAMPE Conference Proceedings, (2002).

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