Mechanical properties of polypropylene composites

Abstract

There has been a growing interest in utilizing fibers as reinforcement to produce composite materials. Scientists prefer thermoplastic polymeric matrices than thermosets due to the low production cycle, lower cost of processing and high reparability of thermoplastics. Fiber-reinforced thermoplastic matrix composites have gained commercial success in the semistructural and structural applications. Various fibers are widely used as reinforcement in thermoplastic polypropylene (PP) matrix to prepare composites. Mechanical properties of fiber-reinforced PP composites (FRPCs) are studied by many researchers and few of them are discussed in this article. Various fiber treatments, which are carried out to improve the fiber–matrix adhesion to get improved mechanical properties, are also discussed in this article. This article also focuses on coupling agents and fiber loading which affect the mechanical properties of FRPCs significantly.