Paper number 232
ORTHOTROPIC RHEOLOGY OF GLASS-MAT-REINFORCED THERMOPLASTICS (GMT): LUBRICATED SQUEEZING FLOW |
M. A. Dweib and C. M. Ó Brádaigh
Composites Research Unit,
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
National University of Ireland, Galway.
Tel: + 353 91 750424, Fax: + 353 91 750534
Summary | The rheological behaviour of Glass-Mat Reinforced Thermoplastics (GMT) was studied under isothermal compression moulding conditions on a universal test machine. The anisotropic behaviour of the lubricated squeezing flow is modelled using three non-Newtonian extensional viscosities. Previous work modelled the material as transversely isotropic, resulting in two in-plane extensional viscosities. In that work, the main assumption was that the material had the same viscosity in one of the in-plane directions and through thickness. Consideration of three independent viscosities is considered necessary as a result of an extensive research study of the fibre structure and orientation of the material, which shows that the material has different fibre structures in three different directions. |
Keywords | rheology, GMT, squeeze flow, anisotropy. |
Theme : Mechanical and Physical Properties ; Creep and Viscoelastic Behaviour