Chapter 14

Long Fiber-Reinforced Thermoplastic Composites

in Automotive Applications

Tapio Harmia, Juha Hartikainen, Mathias Lindner

Future Advanced Composites and Technology Ltd., Kaiserslautern, Germany

1 Introduction

Long fiber-reinforced thermoplastics (LFT) are a relatively new class of

fiber-reinforced materials in the field of composites. According to the fiber length,
they take an intermediate position between injection molded short fiber-reinforced
thermoplastics (SFT) and compression molded glass mat-reinforced thermoplastics
(GMT).'-9 However, LFT show better mechanical properties and even new property
combinations compared to the corresponding SFT and GMT composites (Table 1).

Table I. Typical mechanical properties of short- and long glass fiber-reinforced thermoplastics.

Material Tensile strength Tensile modulus Charpy impact

PA66 LGF 50 1 260 1 18 I 95

PA6 SGF 50 225 15 90

* Yield stress; ** Not breaking
256 Polymer Composites: from Nano- to Macroscale

LFT combine low production costs and high production rates of GMT with the
superior properties, close to those of advanced continuous fiber-reinforced plastics
(CFRP) and can be converted using compression, extrusion-blowing or injection
molding equipment. To expand the range of these materials, more and more fiber-
matrix combinations are constantly developed. So far, natural, glass, aramid, and
carbon fibers are used in typical matrix polymers, such as polypropylene (PP) and
various polyamides (PA). Other advantages of LFT composites over the competing
SFT and GMT materials include: (i) no need for semi-finished pre-compounding
(in-line extrusion, compression molding), less labor-intensive, great freedom in
material modification, (ii) easy recycling, (iii) lower injection pressures during
the injection molding, due to the better flow properties of long fiber materials,
which reduces investment and production costs, (iv) very good surface quality of
the produced parts, (v) shorter cycle times, and (vi) lower rejection rates.
The use of fiber-reinforced plastics and especially LFT composites in the
automotive industry is steadily increasing, which is mainly a consequence of the
low cost and good mechanical properties of the parts based on these materials. The
increased safety in regard to high energy absorption offered by these materials
and the design freedom enabled by thermoplasticparts and injection molding, cause
an increasing demand of LFT materials. Applications in the automotive industry
based on LFT materials range from interior instrumental panels, bottle holders,
etc. (Figure I), to parts "under the hood", such as components of the cooling system

Figure I. Bottle holder of VW T5 Multivan based on FACTOR polypropylene reinforced

with 30 wt.% long glass fibers.

(Figure 2). The requirements to the parts in different applications define the level
of, e.g.,material performance, surface quality and thermo-mechanical properties. In
this chapter, the particularly interesting group of thermoplastic composite materials
applied to different automotive applications is presented in a variety of cases.
These cases show that the special needs of the automotive industry can be covered
with the application of optimized LFT materials.
Chapter 14: LFT Composites in Automotive Applications 257

Figure 2. Housing of a cooling ventilator of a tractor (Fendt) based on FACTOR LGF-

reinforced polypropylene.

2 Long Glass Fiber-Reinforced Polypropylene with

Mineral Fillers

Part and material optimization is frequently related to the improvement of

stiffness. In LFT materials, the stiffness is known to be higher compared to short
fiber-reinforcedcomposites,but even higher modulus than achieved by long fibres is
required in some automotiveparts. The diagram in Figure 3a shows that the stiffness
of long glass fiberlpolypropylenecomposites can be further improved by adding
mineral fillers as a secondary "reinforcement", resulting in a multicomponent hybrid
system. The advantages of the use of the secondary reinforcement are also shorter
cooling time in the injection molding cycle due to the high thermal conductivity
of the fillers and reduced warpage of the molded parts. As in the case of two-
component systems comprising a thermoplastic matrix and mineral filler^,'^.^^ the
impact toughness and the tensile strength of LFT hybrid composites are usually
slightly decreased compared to the correspondingmaterials without filler. However,
property changes due to the filler addition are known to depend strongly on the
fiber loading.12 An LFT system with hybrid reinforcement is already used in
automotive parts, such as the interior cover of a rear compartment (Figure 4).
The understanding of the effect of the fillers on the properties of LGF-
reinforced polypropylene composites is a complex matter, since there is a consider-
able amount of different factors affecting the material behavior. In general, fiber
loading improves the mechanical behavior of polypropylene, whereas the addition
of fillers increases the modulus, but decreases the strength and toughness. However,
at low fiber contents the decrease in strength and toughness is minor compared to
the case of higher fiber concentration.This can be attributed to the fact that, in the
 Polymer Composites: from Nano- to Macroscale

I.
0 I 2 3 4 5 6
Filler content (vol.%)

(b)
2.0 - High LGF content

Gv
5 1.5-

-2-
u
.-.'
Low LGF content
1.0 i

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Filler content (vol.%)

Figure 3. Normalized tensile modulus (a) and notched Charpy impact toughness (b) of PP
reinforced with LGF and mineral filler at low and high fiber contents.

Figure 4. Interior cover of a trunk of Mercedes Benz SL. The material is based on FACTOR
LGFreinforced PP including a filler (molder: Intier Automotive).
Chapter 14: LFT Composites in Automotive Applications 259

former case, the matrix dominates the energy absorption mechanisms whereas the
effect of fibers is predominant at higher fiber contents. Actually, even improved
impact strength can be observed due to filler addition at low fiber content, which
has been evidenced both by the pendulum and the falling weight impact toughness
tests (Figure 3b).

3 Long Fiber-Reinforced Polyamide 66 with Minimized

Water Absorption

Water absorption and stability of the materials based on hygroscopic

polymers, such as polyamides, is an important matter in several automotive applica-
tions. For instance, the parts of the cooling system of a car are subjected to extreme
conditions, i.e., high temperature, high pressure, and chemicals for very long periods
of time. In the case of LGFJpolyamide composites, there are three main damages
caused by water, chemicals, and heat: (i) plasticization of the polymer matrix by
water, (ii) polymer chain degradation, and (iii) decrease of the interfacial properties
between the glass fiber and polyamide. Plasticization is caused by the replacement
of the interchain hydrogen bonds of polyamide by water molecules, resulting in
improved toughness, but also in distinctly lower stiffness and strength. On the other
hand, the two latter damages result in decreased long term mechanical properties.
In order to minimize the reduction in mechanical properties as a function of time,
expensive high temperature-resistant matrices, such as semiaromaticpolyamides,
are often needed. An alternative route to meet such requirements is to apply long
glass fiber-reinforced polyamide 66 with a special stabilization of the matrix. In
this case, the long fiber reinforcement provides high stiffness even at high tempera-
tures and the special additives lead to decreased water uptake (Figure 5) and also
good long term stability. These results suggest that more expensive high temperature
polymers can be replaced by LGFlPA66, resulting in a good performance and
economic benefits.

4 Long Fiber-Reinforced Thermoplastic Styrene Resins

for Car Interior Applications

The main requirements to the interior parts of a car are attractive appearance
combined with good mechanical properties and matching tight tolerances of the part
after processing. Thermoplastic styrene-basedpolymers are often chosen due to the
above mentioned aspects. In many cases, neat styrene-based thermoplastics need
to be reinforced with glass fibres in order to fulfill these requirements. Depending
 Polymer Composites:from Nano- to Macroscale

/ PA66 with modifier I

0 1000 2000 3000 4000

Time (11)

Figure 5. Water absorption of PA66 with and without a special modifier as a function of time
at room temperature and at 75 % relative humidity.

on the actual application, different types of styrene thermoplastics are used, such
as: polystyrene (PS), poly(styrene acrylonitrile) (SAN), acrylonitrile-butadiene-
styrene (ABS), and also blends of polycarbonate (PC) and ABS (PCIABS).
Figure 6 is a schematic representation of a novel concept in the manufactur-
ing of automobile parts based on LGF-reinforced styrene-based thermoplastic^.'^
One of the main benefits of this approach is high flexibility, allowing different
adjustable levels of mechanical properties. Long glass fibers are provided as a
LGF concentrate with 60 wt.% fiber content. The final fiber concentration in the
parts is set during the processing by mixing with different neat "diluent" resins.
Thus, the final properties, such as thermal behavior, stiffness or impact toughness,
can be controlled during the part manufacture. Figure 7 shows DMTA curves for
LGF-reinforced styrene composites based on this concept. It can be seen that the

Injection
F~nalparts

FACTOR concentrate pellets Downmixing

- 60 wt.% of long glass fibers (LGF)
- Compatible with several
thermoplastic styrene resins
- Optimized fiber-matrix
interfacial adhesion
- Mechanical mixing with
"di1uent"resins like SAN,
ABS or PCIABS
- Tuning of the fiber content
according to applications

Figure 6. A novel concept in the manufacturing of long fiber-reinforced thermoplastic

composites by using a base concentrate and different types of diluent polymers.
Chapter 14: LFT Composites in Automotive Applications 26 1

4000-
f Y
\\ - - -- -1
SAN LGF l O w t %

0 25 50 75 100 125 150 175 200

Temperature PC)

Figure 7.DMTA curves of styrene-basedLGF composites with three different matrix systems:
SAN, ABS, and a PCIABS blend.

thermal properties, as well as the modulus at room temperature, can be modified

just by using different diluent polymers.

5 Conclusions

The use of long glass fiber-reinforced thermoplastics in automotive

applications was presented in three different cases, showing that the varying
requirements can be met by choosing the right material system and tailoring the
material properties. (i) The stiffness of LGFIPP can be improved and "fine-tuned"
by using a hybrid reinforcement, such as mineral fillers. (ii) High temperature-
resistant LGFIpolyamide 66 composites are suitable materials for applications
under the motor hood, such as parts of the cooling system. (iii) LGF-reinforced
styrene-based thermoplastics are very interesting materials for car interior parts;
the concentrate concept allows a very flexible adaptation of the material properties.

6 References

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fracture behaviour of short and long fibre-reinforced polypropylene composites, J.
Muter. Sci. 25,4427.
 Polymer Composites: from Nano- to Macroscale

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 Part IV

Mechanical Performance of Macrocomposites