Pultrusion preparation and properties of continuous glass fiber reinforced polylactic acid thermoplastic composites

Continuous glass fiber (CGF) reinforced polylactic acid (PLA) thermoplastic composites (CGF/PLA) were prepared through the pultrusion process. The effects of processing temperature, tension, traction speed and CGF weight content on the tensile strength of CGF/PLA were carefully studied and systematically optimized. The results indicated that the tensile strength and storage modulus of the CGF/PLA were the highest and respectively reached up to 186.4 MPa and 17.5 GPa when the processing temperature was 220?, the tension force was 11 N, the traction speed was 3 r/min and the CGF content was about 40.0 wt.%. In addition, it was found that the tensile strength of CGF/PLA increased with the rise of the processing temperature and CGF content. Those above results demonstrated that this pultrusion fabrication strategy of CGF/PLA could promote a low-cost and high-strength method for the industrial fabrication of CGF/PLA with desired properties, and thus opening possibilities for the rational design and pultrusion preparation of CGF/PLA.

Automated summary

Continuous glass fiber reinforced polylactic acid thermoplastic composites were prepared using the pultrusion process. The effects of processing temperature, tension, traction speed, and CGF weight content on the tensile strength were studied and optimized. The results showed that the highest tensile strength and storage modulus were achieved at a processing temperature of 220℃, tension force of 11 N, traction speed of 3 r/min, and CGF content of 40.0 wt.%. The study demonstrated the potential of pultrusion fabrication strategy for the low-cost and high-strength production of CGF/PLA composites.