• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.24 no.7 s.178
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• pp.1703-1711
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• 2000

Microstructural morphology of molded composites of thermotropic liquid crystalline polymer(LCP) and polyamide 6 (PA6) has been studied as a function of epoxy fraction. Injection-moulding of a thin composite plaque at a temperature below the melting point of the LCP fibrils by suing the extruded LCP/PA6 pellets produced multi-layered structures: 1) the surface skin layer with thickness of 65-120 ym exhibiting a transverse orientation, 2) the sub-skin layer with an orientation perpendicular to the surface skin, i.e. in the flow direction, 3) the core layer with arc-curved flow patterns. Similar microstructural orientations were observed in the respective layers for the composite plaques with different fractions of epoxy.

• Korea-Australia Rheology Journal
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.7-14
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• 2008

The objective of this work is to propose a procedure to simulate the flow in the LCM (Liquid Composites Molding) processes by finite difference discretization in a curvilinear coordinate system adapted to the shape of the saturated zone. The numerical results obtained are compared with experimental results obtained by an experimental device elaborated at our laboratory. It allows to realize linear and radial injections for different porosities and to observe the flow front kinetics. Numerical and experimental results are then compared with those of the literatures and excellent agreements are noticed. Finally, we suggest a concept of the capillary number to explain the variations of the permeability obtained for pressure values lower than 0.25 Bar.

• Composites Research
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.53-64
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• 1999

Microstructural morphology and bending strengths of moulded composites of thermotropic liquid crystalline polymer(LCP) and polyamide 6 (PA6) have been studied as a function of epoxy fraction. Injection-moulding of a composite plaque at a temperature below the melting point of the LCP fibrils generated a multi-layered structure: the surface skin layer with thickness of $65\;-\;120{\mu\textrm{m}}$ exhibiting a transverse orientation; the sub-skin layer with an orientation in the flow direction; the core layer with arc-curved flow patterns. The plaques containing epoxy 4.8vol% exhibited superior bending strength and large fracture strain. With an increase of epoxy fraction equal to and beyond 4.8vol%, geometry of LCP domains was changed from fibrillar shape to lamella-like one, which caused a shear-mode fracture. An analysis of the bending strength of the composite plaques by using a symmetric layered model beam suggested that addition of epoxy component altered not only the microstructural geometry but also the elastic moduli and strengths of the respective layers.