Polypropylene/glass fibre 3D-textile reinforced composites for automotive applications

Textile-reinforced thermoplastic composites offer huge application potentials for a rapid manufacturing of components with versatile possibilities of integrating functions. However, an application of these new materials requires the knowledge of the directional dependent material properties. In this study, results are presented concerning selected relevant load cases for industrial applications. For the new group of multi-layered flat bed weft-knitted glass fibre/polypropylene composites (MKF-GF/PP), tensile tests under different temperatures and test velocities have been carried out as well as Charpy impact tests, open hole tension tests and dynamic-mechanical analysis. The mechanical properties of MKF-GF/PP and unidirectional GF/PP composites with tailored fibre surface and interphase, respectively, have been compared to those of woven GF/PP composites and GF/PP composites made of non-crimp fabrics (NCF) as a benchmark.