1998 Volume 47 Issue 7 Pages 735-742
The technology for opening tow was applied to the opening of reinforcing fiber tow for thermoplastic composites. The effect of its opening on the impregnation behaviors of matrix resin was inveatigated in comparison with those for unopened tow through experiments and theoretical calculations. On-line measurement of void volume change during compression molding for carbou fiber/nylon 6 composite was carried out. Micro-scopic observation on the cross-section of parts fabricated at several molding time and measurement of transverse bending strength of these parts were also conducted. Based on the theoretical model presented previously, the void volume changes for several molding conditions were simulated under a certain assumptive void pressure-change. All these results show consistently that the tow opening makes the impregnation of matrix resin into the reinforcing fiber much easier.