Glass-mat-reinforced thermoplastic

Thermoplastic composites, GMT. According to The European Alliance for SMC, the production of glass mat reinforced thermoplastics (GMT) and long fibre reinforced thermoplastics (LET) was up about 9% in 2002, demonstrating bright future prospects. Some examples are ... 

Table 6.2 Property examples of 30% glass mat reinforced thermoplastics (GMT)...

M.D. Wakeman, T.A. Cain, C.D. Rudd, R. Brooks, A.C. Long, Compression moulding of glass and polypropylene composites for optimised macro- and micro-mechanical properties II. Glass-mat-reinforced thermoplastics. 

Glass-mat reinforced thermoplastic (GMT) is similar to SMC and is available in sheet form, reinforced with random oriented fibers that may be continuous or discontinuous. It is manufactured on a double belt press where the glass fiber mats are sandwiched between layers of extruded molten polymer before it enters the press. The thermoplastic is usually about a few millimeters thick and thus stiff, and hence stored as fiat sheets. Another method involves deposition of a molten mixture of resin, chopped fibers, and additives over a moving belt where the water is driven off. The fiber volume fraction in this compound is usually 0.1-0.3 and fiber lengths are in the range of 10-30 mm, unless the reinforcement is continuous. 

GMTP glass mat reinforced thermoplastic HB Brinell hardness number... 

One of the important applications of polypropylene is to make glass-mat-reinforced thermoplastic (GMT) composites. Such composites are extensively... 

VK Stokes. Random glass mat reinforced thermoplastic composites. Part I. Phenomenology of tensile modulus variations. Polymer Composites 11 32-44, 1990. 

Kaiger-Kocsis, J. (1996) Glass mat reinforced thermoplastics in Polymeric Materials Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, (ed. J.C. Scilamone), CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, USA, pp. 2761-2766. 

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