Consolidation of Composites by Fibre and Film Stacking Routes

1 Consolidation of Composites by Fibre and Film Stacking Routes 

It is generally acknowledged that the concept of single polymer composites was first presented by Capiati and Porter in the mid 1970s [36]. These first one polymer composites were demonstrated by the creation of model composites consisting of a 

PE fibre embedded in a matrix of a similar material. Different PE grades with as wide as possible a difference in molecular weight were used to maximize the difference in melting temperature between the fibre and the matrix and so ease the incorporation of the fibre into the matrix. The use of similar polymers with different melting temperatures to achieve melting of one phase to yield a matrix material, while retention of another phase to yield a fibrous reinforcement became a recurring feature in most of the literature that was subsequently pubhshed to describe the development of self-reinforced polymer composites. 

As described earlier, the main prerequisite for the creation of high performance self-reinforced polymer composites is a thermoplastic polymer fibre with the necessary mechanical properties to make the creation of the final composites attractive. Ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) fibres with veiy high mechanical properties, produced by gel spinning, became commercially 

Devaux and Caze reported the characterisation of model composites comprising single UHMWPE fibres embedded in LDPE [47,48], It was shown that an oxidising chemical treatment of the UHMWPE fibre prior to embedding in the LDPE matrix improved the interface between the UHMWPE fibre and the LDPE matrix [48]. Ogawa et al. also reported the creation of unidirectimial UHMWPE fibre-reinforced PE composites [49], The authors report the use of commercial UHMWPE fibre to produce composites by the combination of these fibres with films of HDPE or LDPE to yield composites with 70% fibre weight fraction. 

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