Evaluation of Fracture Properties of Injection-Molded Glass Fiber Reinforced Polyamide66 by Notched Three-Point Bend Testing

This paper presents experimental results for the fracture properties of injection-molded glass fiber/polyamide 66 composites. A weighed amount of glass fibers was mixed with polyamide 66 using a twin extruder. The contained glass fiber was prepared from 17 to 41 vol%. Fracture tests were performed on single edge notched bend specimens. The specimens (C-0 specimens) were prepared by cutting the injection-molded plates. Injection-molded specimens fabricated by using JIS K 7162 specification mold (M specimens) were also used. The effects of the fiber orientation, fiber volume fraction and loading rate (crosshead speed) on the fracture properties were discussed. To correlate the microstructure with the fracture properties, the fracture surfaces of dyed composite specimens were examined by a scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and an optical microscopy.