The effect of temperature and strain rate on the interfacial behavior of glass fiber reinforced polypropylene composites: A molecular dynamics study

Zhang M, Jiang B, Chen C, Drummer D, Zhai Z (2019)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2019

Journal

Polymers MDPI

Book Volume: 11

Article Number: 1766

Journal Issue: 11

DOI: 10.3390/polym11111766

Abstract

To make better use of fiber reinforced polymer composites in automotive applications, a clearer knowledge of its interfacial properties under dynamic and thermal loadings is necessary. In the present study, the interfacial behavior of glass fiber reinforced polypropylene (PP) composites under different loading temperatures and strain rates were investigated via molecular dynamics simulation. The simulation results reveal that PP molecules move easily to fit tensile deformation at higher temperatures, resulting in a lower interfacial strength of glass fiber-PP interface. The interfacial strength is enhanced with increasing strain rate because the atoms do not have enough time to relax at higher strain rates. In addition, the non-bonded interaction energy plays a crucial role during the tensile deformation of composites. The damage evolution of glass fiber-PP interface followsWeibull's distribution. At elevated temperatures, tensile loading is more likely to cause cohesive failure because the mechanical property of PP is lower than that of the glass fiber-PP interface. However, at higher strain rates, the primary failure mode is interfacial failure because the strain rate dependency of PP is more pronounced than that of the glass fiber-PP interface. The relationship between the failure modes and loading conditions obtained by molecular dynamics simulation is consistent with the author's previous experimental studies.

Authors with CRIS profile

Dietmar Drummer Lehrstuhl für Kunststofftechnik

Involved external institutions

Central South University CN China (CN)

How to cite

APA:

Zhang, M., Jiang, B., Chen, C., Drummer, D., & Zhai, Z. (2019). The effect of temperature and strain rate on the interfacial behavior of glass fiber reinforced polypropylene composites: A molecular dynamics study. Polymers, 11(11). https://doi.org/10.3390/polym11111766

MLA:

Zhang, Muhan, et al. "The effect of temperature and strain rate on the interfacial behavior of glass fiber reinforced polypropylene composites: A molecular dynamics study." Polymers 11.11 (2019).

BibTeX: Download