An Experimental Study of the Pultrusion of Carbon Fiber-Polyamide 12 Yarn

Abstract

The present study reports about the pultrusion of a carbon fiber-reinforced PA12 yarn containing discontinuous carbon and polyamide fibers. This is the first attempt to pultrude this material. Rectangular cross sectional profiles have been successfully produced using a self-designed pultrusion line. In a series of experiments, the pultrusion parameters, such as preheating method, die temperature, and especially the pulling speed, which represents a determining factor regarding a potential industrial application, are varied. A complete characterization of each profile is conducted to examine the influence of processing parameters on the profile quality. The mechanical properties are evaluated by performing three-point bending as well as shear tests. The void content is also determined. The pulling speed seems to have the greatest influence on the profile quality. Under certain conditions of speed and temperature, the pultruded profiles exhibit good mechanical performance and a void content below 2%. The shear strength reacts most sensitively to the process parameter variations and can be used as a quality criteria.