Advanced Thermoplastic Composites

This text represents the results of the research activity currently devoted to the field of advanced thermoplastics in three major laboratories: Louvain-la-Neuve, Lausanne and ICI Wilton. It addresses a number of the shortcomings in our understanding of these materials and their applications. The studies of methods of molecular analysis as applied to the relatively stiff molecules typical of advanced thermoplastics, aim to help resolve the difficulties associated with molecular weight determination. Their physical structure in the unfilled state, and its modification through thermal treatment, and the presence of fillers and reinforcing fibres, has been identified and correlated with the mechanical behaviour over a wide range of strain rates, covering a whole variety of loading conditions, from impact through to long term tests. The highly characteristic molecular structures of advanced thermoplastics also necessitate special guidelines for their processing and component design, and potential advantages and pitfalls are discussed.