was represented by Glass Mat reinforced
Long glass fiber thermoplastics
Material classification and characteri-
sation
1. Introduction
There has been a rapid and steady growth
in the use of long fiber reinforced plastics in
recent years. This has been achieved due to
their potential of combining high perform-
ance / price ratios - such as reduced weight,
corrosion resistance, great design and styl-
ing flexibility - with rapid clean processability
and the attraction of their intrinsic recyclabil-
ity.
Since the early 80ties thermoplastic com-
posites (TC) in structural applications have
played a greater role in the automotive in-
dustry. The combination of high volume
processing, and high end-use properties
and lower system costs, is a strong driving
force for further applications. Furthermore
their high integration potential - the consoli-
dation of various parts into one single com-
ponent - is rapidly being recognised as a
major advantage in comparison to traditional
materials. Typical automotive applications
are dashboard carriers, technical front-ends,
seat shells, bumber carrier, battery trays,
spare wheel dwells and – as one of the
most rapid growing markets - complete un-
derfloor systems.
2. New material and process develope-
ments
For a long time, the main driving force for
new thermoplastic composite applications,
thermoplastics (GMT). Random in-plane
fiber reinforced GMT-sheets can be pre-
pared by melt impregnation of non-woven
glass mats (dry process), or by mixing
chopped fibers with polymer powder in a
fluid medium, followed by straining, drying
and consolidation (wet process). GMT
sheets were heated up in an oven system
and pressed to complex parts in a press
forming process. Although the GMT process
is an established and well known technol-
ogy, it´s role of a ´trailblazer´ for new and
innovative applications is being challenged.
Caused by the necessity of massive cost
savings - a clear demand especially from
the automotive industry - a number of alter-
native materials and processes has been
developed in the last years.
Long fiber reinforced granulates (LFG), pel-
lets and chips (STC), prepared by wire-
coating, crosshead extrusion or several pul-
trusion techniques were introduced 10 years
ago, recent developments in this area are
based on commingling and powder impreg-
nation techniques.
These long fiber granulates are suitable
both for the classic injection moulding proc-
ess (IM) and the injection compression
moulding process (ICM) as well as for the
extrusion compression moulding process
(ECM).
Common to all these processes is a plastifi-
cation unit in form of an injection or extru-
sion screw which is the mainspring for the
process intrinsic deficit - an apparent fiber
length degradation in the finished part /1-4/.
 This typical reduction of the fiber length is or pellets, leads to a clear benefit concern-
irrespective of massive ameliorations in the ing to the material and process costs.
field of the plastification systems (screw The main developments were performed in
geometrie, mixing zones, etc.), and opti- the area of extrusion compression moulding.
mised process parameters (screw speed, These process technologies could be differ-
injection speed, back pressure, etc.). entiated by different compounding methods
25 (single or double screw extruder), impreg-
nation methods (direct feeding or accessory
av. fiber length lm [mm]

20

systems), reinforcing material basis

15
(chopped or endless fibers), matrix material
10
(PP in form of granulats, powder or water
5
dispersion) /6-13/. Although the develop-
0 ment of modified injection moulding proc-
extruder

part
zone 46

zone 32

zone 27

zone 16

plastificat
zone 1
basis length

head

esses was started almost 10 years ago, a

screw zone
broad industrial introduction of these sys-
Picture 1: Typical degradation of the aver-
age fiber length, found in ECM-process (PP- tems is expected previously for the next
LFG25mm, 40% glass content) years /14-18/. But the cut off of the semifin-
ished material step also has some draw-
Specifically in closed mould operation – like
backs - the part producer is not only re-
in the injection moulding process - the addi-
sponsible for the final production but addi-
tional fiber length reduction in the nozzle,
tionally for the homogenisation and prepa-
the gating system and the mould itself
ration of the raw materials and the material
(geometrie, radii. etc.) must be taken into
classification and quality. Furthermore is
consideration to minimize fiber breaking and
has to be noted that an in line compounding
nonuniform physical properties in the fin-
system needs higher investment costs and
ished part /1-5/.
skilful service personal.
A real breaktrough in thermoplastic com-
Regarding all these developments on the
posites was the idea of combining the com-
field of new materials and different proc-
pounding of a long fiber reinforced thermo-
esses, the part producer is confronted with
plastic material directly with the final part
the question which kind of process and
production process. The reinforcing fibers
which kind of material is the right decision.
were incorporated and impregnated with the
On the one hand he has to fulfill the de-
PP-matrix directly during the compounding
mands and requirements of his customer for
and plastification process of the thermo-
a specific part - on the other hand he has to
plastic composite (DIF-process). The leav-
produce on a cost level which is accepted
ing out of semifinished products, like blanks
by the market.
One of the main tasks in future projects
could be the qualified comparison of differ-
ent types of materials in one and the same
application, the assessment of different pro-
cesses and the efficiency of process pa-
rameters. Therefore a basic understanding
of the general influencing factors by the de-
signers and the engineers is a very impor-
tant condition for a better understanding of
the performance, the advantages and the
limitations of long fiber reinforced thermo-
plastics.
3. Material basics of long fiber reinforced
thermoplastics
same zone a difference of the mechanical
properties as a function of the traction angle
applied, may be found /19/.
It is obvious that measuring or indicating
single values – wheater it is a young´s mod-
ule, a tensile strength or a charpy impact
energy – which is often required and prac-
ticed - is no sufficient method to handle the
complexity of these kind of materials.
3.1 Influence of the fiber orientation and
the fiber length on the mechanical prop-
erties
10 mm
10 mm
0°

The mechanical properties of a part made of

reinforced thermoplastics are defined by the -90° 90°
matrix system, the fibers, the fiber content
and most of all by the orientation of the re- 9,00

inforcing fibers. High performance levels 8,00

7,00
relative quantity [%]

can only be obtained from a composite part 6,00

with high fiber concentrations and if the re- 5,00

4,00
inforcing fibers in the final product have a 3,00

sufficiently high aspect ratio - which defines 2,00

1,00

the length to diameter relation of a single 0,00

-80° -60° -40° -20° 0° 20° 40° 60° 80°

fiber. Mainly affected on different, flow in- traction angle [°]

6000
duced fiber orientations, it is usual that a
5000
great variation of properties could be found
Modulus [Mpa]

4000
over a part. The orientation and the length
3000
of the fibers are distinctly influenced by the
2000
production process and the variation of pro- 1000

cess parameters. This is the reason why 0

-90 -80 -70 -60 -50 -40 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
different mechanical values may be found traction angle [°]

on identical parts produced by different Picture 2: Prediction of the tensile modulus

technologies and why a comparison of dif- for a flow orientated 40%-GMT (below)
based on X-ray testing (on top) and orienta-
ferent materials is rather difficult although tion related quantification by picture analysis
the part geometry is the same. Even in the (middle)
 With models, founded on the theory of Hal-
pin & Tsai it is possible to predict the stiff-
ness of long fiber reinforced materials with a
sufficient accuracy /20-21/. Although a
number of models for the prediction of com-
posite strength and impact properties exist,
there is no appropriate simulation method
for the practice /22-25/.
Recent methods are based on X-ray analy-
sis of test plates and cut out sections of real
parts. With powerful picture analysis pro-
grams a complete functionality between
modulus and load angle can be plotted,
picture 2. Only a few references are han-
dling the relation between fiber length, ori-
entaton and strength. But most of the scien-
tific work done on this topic are more or less
theoretical and could be verified only on test
plates in an adequate state /24-26/. The
qualitative relation between the fiber length
and the mechanical properties of a glass
fiber reinforced PP is shown in picture 3.
1.0
K [-]
0.8
impact resistance
strength
Normalized Properties
0.6
modulus
0.4
0.2
Fiber diameter dF: 10 µm
0
0.1 1 10
Fiberlength l [mm]
Picture 3: Qualitative relation between the
normalized mechanical properties and the
fiber length of a glass fiber reinforced PP
(based on /26/)
It could be determined that the stiffness of
the composite couldn´t be boosted over a
significant level by using longer fibers.
But the maximum strength and the impact
properties could be increased distinctly by
raising the fiber length. This is the reason
why the crash performance of complete
parts could be improved significantly by the
utilisation of longer fibers. Despite the fact
that these theoretical relations between fiber
length and impact performance could be
verified on principle in the reality, there is a
lack of profound work on real parts and ex-
aminations considering the specific circum-
stances of real production processes.
Moreover evident is the lack of comprehen-
sible and accessible data relating fiber con-
tent and fiber length distribution with impact
properties. One of the difficulties is the cor-
rect and reproducable measurement of fiber
length distributions in real parts.
1 mm
Picture 4: Optical determination of the fiber
length on injection moulded parts
left) short fiber PP right) long fiber PP
100
The existing analytical methods for the
measurement of the fiber length - like differ-
ent sieving, filtering or optical methods - are
very large-scaled, expensive and time con-
suming. Furthermore these methods allows
no indication on the efficiency of the fiber
 coupling and the interphase properties of a tion can be visualized by plotting the flexural
fiber, pictures 4 and 5. strength and the related stiffness in one
20 diagram. A linear connection between the
18 maximum flexural strength and the flexural
16
amount of fibers [%]

14 modulus could be found, picture 6.

12 Under the assumption that the fiber length
10
8
distribution in a mat based GMT is quite
6 narrow, this outcome points out that in this
4
2
case the fiber orientation is the main factor.
0 Well oriented fibers lead to higher stiffness
10-11

11-12

12-13

13-14

14-15
0-1

1-2

2-3

3-4

4-5

5-6

6-7

7-8

8-9

9-10

fiber length [mm] and higher strength values, specimen con-

taining fibers oriented in a perpendicular
Picture 5: Typical fiber length distribution in
an injection moulded part (PP-LFG 15mm, way to the load shows poor values.
30% glass content)
200
GMT 40
175
4. A new practical approach for the char-
Flexural strength [Mpa]

150
acterisation of orientation and fiber
125
length on the mechanical properties
100
GMT 30
Due to the absence of easy, practise ori- 75

50
ented test methods for the characterisation
25
and determination of the fiber length distri-
0
bution in a part, large-scale and cost inten- 1500 2500 3500 4500 5500 6500 7500 8500

sive component tests are commonly used. Flexural Modulus [MPa]

Picture 6: Linear relation between the

Based on this unsatisfying situation a sys-
maximum flexural strength and the flexural
tematic investigation of the relations be- modulus (30% and 40% mat reinforced
GMT)
tween different materials, processes and
geometries was performed /27/. With the Whereas this outcome is a rather simple
use of a typical press moulded GMT part and a well-known phenomenon in the daily
for representation, it is shown that with a testing practise of long fiber reinforced ma-
simple test procedure the relation between terials, the acquired experience of these
fiber orientation, stiffness and strength could experiments is building the root for a con-
be determined. By cutting specimen out of nection between the static and the impact
the complete part surface, the whole variety behaviour.
of flow induced fiber orientations in the part The next step was just a slight extension of
can be considered. After the flexural speci- the commonly used charpy impact test.
men is tested in a standardized bending test Cut out and prepare of specimen
(ISO178), the influence of the fiber orienta- (15‚80‚thickness, accord. ISO 3167) in dif-
 ferent positions of the part, at least about 15 The real benefit of this new testing approach
samples with different flow orientations. The could be displayed by the investigation of
specimen were tested in a bending trial different processes and materials. Repre-
(ISO178) without rupture within linear elas- sented in picture 8 is the flexural strength to
ticity (max 2 mm deflection, 23°C) and the modulus behaviour of specimen from parts
flexural modulus is measured. After that the with 30% glass fiber content, but produced
same specimen were used for the charpy with three different processing technologies.
impact test (ISO 179eU) and the impact 175
strength is measured. The two values- 150 LFG - ICM

Flexural strength [Mpa]

charpy impact energy and flexural modulus - 125 LFG - IM
are drawn in one plot, picture 7. 100

SFG - IM
Represented for GMT with three different 75

fiber percentages (20, 30 and 40%) it is ob- 50

25
vious that a linear relation between the all Materials: PP - 30 % GF
0
charpy impact energy and the stiffness ex- 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000

ists. Flexural Modulus [MPa]

70
65
Picture 8: Influence of the fiber length on the
60
linear relation between the maximum flex-
Charpy Impact [KJ/m²]

55
50 GMT 40 ural strength and the flexural modulus (30%
45 glass reinforced PP materials)
40
35 The specimen made with long glass fiber
30 GMT 30
25 granulates in an injection compression
20
15 GMT 20 moulding process (LFG-ICM) – which di-
10
1500 2500 3500 4500 5500 6500 7500 8500 minish the fiber breakage - exhibit the high-
Flexural Modulus [MPa] est strength and stiffness values. The
specimen cut out of parts produced with the
Picture 7: Linear relation between the
charpy impact energy and the flexural identical granulate type, but in a common
modulus of 20, 30% and 40% mat rein- injection moulding process (LFT-IM), are
forced GMT materials
showing mediocre values and at least the
The most interesting outcome is the slope of specimen from parts injected with normal
the charpy / modulus-ratio, which is nearly short fiber granulates (SFG-IM) are mani-
identical for the three different fiber con- festing the lowest stiffness and strength
tents. It was shown that the flexural modulus values. This outcome points out that – be-
the flexural strength and the charpy impact neath the fiber orientation – a second influ-
energy are direct related to the fiber orienta- ence is taking effect – the fiber length, here
tion in the part. as the result of different production tech-
 nologies. As described in the literature the
stiffness and the strength is directly related
to the fiber length. The efficiency of the fiber
length could be directly evaluated by the
slope of the strength / stiffness-ratio, which
is raising significantly towards longer fibers.
How easily and comprehensibly the method
could be used to draw clear distinctions
between the described process technolo-
gies for long fiber reinforced thermoplastics
is shown in picture 9. When the charpy im-
pact values of the different specimen is
plotted over their related stiffness the three
processes could be distinguished very well.
The increase of the fiber length leads to a
significant increase of the charpy / modulus-
ratio.
35
all Materials: PP - 30 % GF
30
Charpy Impact [KJ/m²]
25
20
15
10
5 SFG - IM
0 36 Ann. SPI Conf., Session 9A, p 1-4
2000 3000 4000 5000
Flexural Modulus [MPa]
Picture 9: Influence of the fiber length on the
linear relation between the charpy impact
energy and the flexural modulus (30% glass
reinforced PP materials)
Whereas the slope of the charpy / modulus-
ratio for the injection moulded short fiber PP
is almost zero, a distinct difference could be
noticed for the LFG-IM and the LFG-ICM
process. With increasing fiber length you will
increase the charpy / modulus-ratio as
shown.
5. Outlook
With a rather simple mechanical test proce-
dure fundamental relations between the
fiber length and the fiber orientation of long
glass fiber reinforced composites with poly-
propylene matrix can be determined and
visualized. With a slight extension of the
charpy impact test – which is in any case
part of the normal testing program for ther-
moplastic composite parts – it is possible to
obtain a lot more information and correla-
tions about the material performance, as if
common single point testing methods were
used.
With this practise oriented measuring
method, the producer of TC-parts is enabled
to optimise process parameters, to compare
different kinds of materials and to classify
LFG - ICM
different kinds of production processes.
LFG - IM
6. References
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dation in thermoplastics processing, Proc.
th
6000 7000 (1981)
2. Schmid, B. : Spritzgießen von langfaserver-
stärkten Thermoplasten, Kunststoffe 79
(1989) 7, p 624-630
3. Sanschagrin, B. ; Ehrhardt, P. ; Fisa, B. :
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reinforced Polypropylene during injection
th
molding, Proc. 46 Ann. SPI Conf., Session
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4. Wolf, H.-J. : Faserverkürzung beim Verar-
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