Process related Properties of recyclable Continuous Reinforced Thermoplastic Glass-Fiber-Reinforced-Polymers

• Applicant: Dr.-Ing. Joel Schukraft
• Subject Area: Polymeric and Biogenic Materials and Derived Composites
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 550315066

Pultrusion is a promising process for the production of fiber-reinforced plastics with a high fiber volume content. Due to the lightweight construction potential, durability and high corrosion resistance of pultruded products, the process has gained in economic importance. Research to date has focused mainly on the development of thermoset pultrusion, and the current state of research has opened up a gap for thermoplastic pultrusion, which has significant advantages over thermoset-based pultrusion, particularly in terms of sustainability and recyclability. The research project therefore aims to clarify the process-structure-property relationships in the pultrusion of thermoplastic glass-fiber reinforced plastics (GFRP) and to investigate the microstructure-property relationships of pultruded polypropylene GFRP. Depending on the fiber volume content, the residence time of the polymer melt in the process and the use of possible additives, a variation of the process parameters should allow important conclusions to be drawn about the process limits and the influences on the infiltration quality. According to the current state of research, current limitation is caused by the wettability between the thermoplastic melt and the fiber surface. Chemical analysis of the matrix system before and after the process should provide important insights into the influence of the process on the properties of the matrix in order to evaluate the use of recycled material in thermoplastic melt pultrusion. A comparison of the influence of the varied process parameters is to be carried out by means of mechanical and thermal characterization to characterize the microstructure properties and to map component-related loads in the temperature range of -40...+60°C.

• DFG Programme: WBP Fellowship
• International Connection: Canada
• Host: Professor Dr. Andrew Hrymak