Impregnation quality of shredded semipreg after compression moulding

Guillaume Almire Vincent, Venkatesh Balakrishnan, Thomas de Bruijn, Sebastiaan Wijskamp, Mohammed Iqbal Abdul Rasheed

    Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper

    1 Citation (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Manufacturing of thermoplastic composites (TPC) inherently generates scrap, mainly in the form of offcuts or rejected parts. The growth of TPC over recent decades has now reached a point where developing specific recycling solutions for TPC waste has become crucial. While looking at the various steps during which scrap is produced, the nesting of semipreg or prepreg appears to be critical. This work aims to develop a route for recycling semipreg offcuts, comprising shredding and compression moulding. This article focuses on an experimental study of the compression moulding step of carbon fibres reinforced PPS (C/PPS) to investigate the uniformity and impregnation quality of plates. These plates were realised in a picture frame while varying both the fibre volume content between 30% and 50% and the processing parameters. Visual inspection and cross-sectional microscopy were performed to assess the quality of each plate. As a first step, the influence of the type of added matrix (film, powder, pellets) and the type of pre-impregnation (film, powder) was studied. Stacking of polymer powder with shredded powder-coated semipreg gave the best impregnation quality. It was also shown that longer dwell time at melt leads to better consolidation quality. However, the difficulty in obtaining good impregnation comes from the disentangled shredded material, which is composed of three forms: semipreg flakes, dry bundles and pieces of matrix. When dry bundles reach the mould surfaces during the filling of the mould or when they are packed together, the consolidation cycle hardly impregnates them and they remain dry afterwards. Furthermore, large local variations of fibre fraction were noticed, resulting from a random mould filling. Therefore, the recycling solution for shredded semipreg is feasible when the fibre fraction is reduced but improvements on the part variability still have to be made.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages1896 / 030019
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Oct 2017
    Event20th International ESAFORM Conference on Material Forming - City University Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
    Duration: 26 Apr 2017 → 28 Apr 2017
    Conference number: 20
    http://www.esaform2017.com/ehome/index.php?eventid=153382&

    Conference

    Conference20th International ESAFORM Conference on Material Forming
    Abbreviated titleESAFORM 2017
    CountryIreland
    CityDublin
    Period26/04/17 → 28/04/17
    Internet address

    Fingerprint

    Compression molding
    Impregnation
    Thermoplastics
    Recycling
    Powders
    Consolidation
    Fibers
    Composite materials
    Carbon fibers
    Microscopic examination
    Inspection
    Polymers
    Processing

    Keywords

    • material forming
    • Composite materials
    • microscopy
    • polymers

    Cite this

    Vincent, G. A., Balakrishnan, V., de Bruijn, T., Wijskamp, S., & Abdul Rasheed, M. I. (2017). Impregnation quality of shredded semipreg after compression moulding. 1896 / 030019. Paper presented at 20th International ESAFORM Conference on Material Forming, Dublin, Ireland. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5008006
    Vincent, Guillaume Almire ; Balakrishnan, Venkatesh ; de Bruijn, Thomas ; Wijskamp, Sebastiaan ; Abdul Rasheed, Mohammed Iqbal. / Impregnation quality of shredded semipreg after compression moulding. Paper presented at 20th International ESAFORM Conference on Material Forming, Dublin, Ireland.
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    abstract = "Manufacturing of thermoplastic composites (TPC) inherently generates scrap, mainly in the form of offcuts or rejected parts. The growth of TPC over recent decades has now reached a point where developing specific recycling solutions for TPC waste has become crucial. While looking at the various steps during which scrap is produced, the nesting of semipreg or prepreg appears to be critical. This work aims to develop a route for recycling semipreg offcuts, comprising shredding and compression moulding. This article focuses on an experimental study of the compression moulding step of carbon fibres reinforced PPS (C/PPS) to investigate the uniformity and impregnation quality of plates. These plates were realised in a picture frame while varying both the fibre volume content between 30{\%} and 50{\%} and the processing parameters. Visual inspection and cross-sectional microscopy were performed to assess the quality of each plate. As a first step, the influence of the type of added matrix (film, powder, pellets) and the type of pre-impregnation (film, powder) was studied. Stacking of polymer powder with shredded powder-coated semipreg gave the best impregnation quality. It was also shown that longer dwell time at melt leads to better consolidation quality. However, the difficulty in obtaining good impregnation comes from the disentangled shredded material, which is composed of three forms: semipreg flakes, dry bundles and pieces of matrix. When dry bundles reach the mould surfaces during the filling of the mould or when they are packed together, the consolidation cycle hardly impregnates them and they remain dry afterwards. Furthermore, large local variations of fibre fraction were noticed, resulting from a random mould filling. Therefore, the recycling solution for shredded semipreg is feasible when the fibre fraction is reduced but improvements on the part variability still have to be made.",
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    Vincent, GA, Balakrishnan, V, de Bruijn, T, Wijskamp, S & Abdul Rasheed, MI 2017, 'Impregnation quality of shredded semipreg after compression moulding' Paper presented at 20th International ESAFORM Conference on Material Forming, Dublin, Ireland, 26/04/17 - 28/04/17, pp. 1896 / 030019. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5008006

    Impregnation quality of shredded semipreg after compression moulding. / Vincent, Guillaume Almire; Balakrishnan, Venkatesh; de Bruijn, Thomas; Wijskamp, Sebastiaan ; Abdul Rasheed, Mohammed Iqbal.

    2017. 1896 / 030019 Paper presented at 20th International ESAFORM Conference on Material Forming, Dublin, Ireland.

    Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper

    TY - CONF

    T1 - Impregnation quality of shredded semipreg after compression moulding

    AU - Vincent, Guillaume Almire

    AU - Balakrishnan, Venkatesh

    AU - de Bruijn, Thomas

    AU - Wijskamp, Sebastiaan

    AU - Abdul Rasheed, Mohammed Iqbal

    PY - 2017/10

    Y1 - 2017/10

    N2 - Manufacturing of thermoplastic composites (TPC) inherently generates scrap, mainly in the form of offcuts or rejected parts. The growth of TPC over recent decades has now reached a point where developing specific recycling solutions for TPC waste has become crucial. While looking at the various steps during which scrap is produced, the nesting of semipreg or prepreg appears to be critical. This work aims to develop a route for recycling semipreg offcuts, comprising shredding and compression moulding. This article focuses on an experimental study of the compression moulding step of carbon fibres reinforced PPS (C/PPS) to investigate the uniformity and impregnation quality of plates. These plates were realised in a picture frame while varying both the fibre volume content between 30% and 50% and the processing parameters. Visual inspection and cross-sectional microscopy were performed to assess the quality of each plate. As a first step, the influence of the type of added matrix (film, powder, pellets) and the type of pre-impregnation (film, powder) was studied. Stacking of polymer powder with shredded powder-coated semipreg gave the best impregnation quality. It was also shown that longer dwell time at melt leads to better consolidation quality. However, the difficulty in obtaining good impregnation comes from the disentangled shredded material, which is composed of three forms: semipreg flakes, dry bundles and pieces of matrix. When dry bundles reach the mould surfaces during the filling of the mould or when they are packed together, the consolidation cycle hardly impregnates them and they remain dry afterwards. Furthermore, large local variations of fibre fraction were noticed, resulting from a random mould filling. Therefore, the recycling solution for shredded semipreg is feasible when the fibre fraction is reduced but improvements on the part variability still have to be made.

    AB - Manufacturing of thermoplastic composites (TPC) inherently generates scrap, mainly in the form of offcuts or rejected parts. The growth of TPC over recent decades has now reached a point where developing specific recycling solutions for TPC waste has become crucial. While looking at the various steps during which scrap is produced, the nesting of semipreg or prepreg appears to be critical. This work aims to develop a route for recycling semipreg offcuts, comprising shredding and compression moulding. This article focuses on an experimental study of the compression moulding step of carbon fibres reinforced PPS (C/PPS) to investigate the uniformity and impregnation quality of plates. These plates were realised in a picture frame while varying both the fibre volume content between 30% and 50% and the processing parameters. Visual inspection and cross-sectional microscopy were performed to assess the quality of each plate. As a first step, the influence of the type of added matrix (film, powder, pellets) and the type of pre-impregnation (film, powder) was studied. Stacking of polymer powder with shredded powder-coated semipreg gave the best impregnation quality. It was also shown that longer dwell time at melt leads to better consolidation quality. However, the difficulty in obtaining good impregnation comes from the disentangled shredded material, which is composed of three forms: semipreg flakes, dry bundles and pieces of matrix. When dry bundles reach the mould surfaces during the filling of the mould or when they are packed together, the consolidation cycle hardly impregnates them and they remain dry afterwards. Furthermore, large local variations of fibre fraction were noticed, resulting from a random mould filling. Therefore, the recycling solution for shredded semipreg is feasible when the fibre fraction is reduced but improvements on the part variability still have to be made.

    KW - material forming

    KW - Composite materials

    KW - microscopy

    KW - polymers

    UR - http://www.iccm-central.org/proceedings/ICCM21proceedings/papers/3797.pdf

    U2 - 10.1063/1.5008006

    DO - 10.1063/1.5008006

    M3 - Paper

    SP - 1896 / 030019

    ER -

    Vincent GA, Balakrishnan V, de Bruijn T, Wijskamp S, Abdul Rasheed MI. Impregnation quality of shredded semipreg after compression moulding. 2017. Paper presented at 20th International ESAFORM Conference on Material Forming, Dublin, Ireland. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5008006

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