Synergism of glass – carbon and basalt – carbon fibers on mechanical behaviour of polyamide66 and polytetrafluroethylene blend composites

Abstract

This study examines the influence of Glass–Carbon and Basalt–Carbon fiber reinforcements on the mechanical performance of Polyamide 66/Polytetrafluoroethylene (PA66/PTFE) blend composites for structural applications. An 80 wt.% Polyamide 66 and 20 wt.% Polytetrafluoroethylene thermoplastic blend was selected as the matrix material for composite development. The hybrid fibers combination (10 wt. % Short Glass fibers (SGF) and 10 wt. % Short Carbon fibers (SCF)) GC and (10 wt. % each of Short Basalt fibers—SBF and Short Carbon fibers– SCF) BC composites were used as the reinforcement phases. For the fabrication process—twin screw extrusion method followed by injection molding was used. For these GC and BC hybrid composites, the mechanical behaviour was evaluated using ASTM Methods. Results showed the appreciable improvement in mechanical strength over PA66/PTFE Blend. It was noticed for the GC and BC hybrid composites, 108.76% and 92.08% increase in tensile strength, 138.82% and 104.07% in flexural strength respectively over neat blend. Further, the impact strength with notched condition was responded with 16% rise in strength for GC and 26.8% drop for BC over the blend. The hybrid composites GC and BC exhibit an increase in heat deflection temperature of 231.9 °C and 229.7 °C respectively over 62.8 °C of blend at higher load. In addition, the incorporation of hybrid fibers resulted in a reduction in the melt flow index compared to the neat blend. SEM-based fracture analysis revealed that fiber fracture, deformation at the matrix–fiber interface, and the presence of non-resin regions due to fiber overlap were some of the reasons for the composite failure.