PNNL

Abstract

Thermoplastic polymer fiber/polymer matrix composites (PPCs) are potential candidates for future advanced polymer composites because of various advantages (e.g., recyclability, formability, low-cost, ultra-lightweight, environmental friendliness, etc). The manufacturability and mechanical behavior of these composites compared to traditional carbon/glass/aramid fiber-reinforced polymers is of great interest to the composite community, but there are a limited number of studies in this area. To this end, this paper reviewed fabrication methods and mechanical behavior of uni-/multi directional thermoplastic PPC materials from limited data in the literature. It was shown that most specific behaviors (normalized by density) of these materials in various loading conditions (e.g., quasi-static tension and flexure, tension-tension fatigue, and out-of-plane impacting, etc.) are comparable to or better than glass/aramid fiber-reinforced polymers. Particularly, the specific ductility in the foregoing conditions outperforms all the carbon/glass/aramid fiber-reinforced polymers. Thermoplastic PPC materials with remarkable performance can be achieved through several uncomplicated methods (e.g., film stacking, power/solution impregnation, resin injection, additive manufacturing, etc.), which have some similarities to the methods used for carbon/glass/aramid fiber-reinforced polymers. Moreover, several opportunities and challenging problems of thermoplastic PPC materials are summarized at the end of this review paper. Efficient solutions may require countless efforts in the composite community to further strengthen the performance and understanding of thermoplastic PPC materials for wide applications in various engineering fields in the future.