Influence of cooling rates on microstructure and mechanical performance of continuous fiber reinforced PPS composites

In this study, the influence of the cooling rate on the crystallization temperature, level of crystallinity, spherulite size and mechanical properties was investigated for two continuous fibers reinforced polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) composites. Crystallization temperature and level of crystallinity were first studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) for cooling rates comprised between 5 and 70\ub0C/min. Results obtained showed that level of crystallinity was not significantly influenced by the cooling rate, while crystallization temperature decreased with increasing cooling rate. Matrix microstructure and composite short beam shear strength were then characterized for cooling rates of 3, 15 and 20\ub0C/min. These cooling rates were chosen because they are representative of cooling rates used in autoclave manufacturing and compression molding. To enhance the microstructure of the PPS matrix, an etching solution based on potassium permanganate and orthophosphoric acid was used.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye