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

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