Effect of glass fiber distributions on the mechanical and fracture behaviors of injection-molded glass fiber-filled polypropylene with 2-Hole Tension specimens

Abstract

In this study, various fracture characteristics of plastic parts were experimentally investigated using newly designed specimens with 2 holes to observe the deformation and fracture behaviors of injection-molded plastic parts fabricated by short glass fiber (GF)-reinforced polypropylene (PP). This 2-hole tension (2HT) specimen affects the flow pattern of resin and the orientation of GF during the injection molding process, and various stress concentrations and distributions can be generated under a simple tensile load. The effects of rheological and mechanical variations of the resin on the deformation and fracture behavior of the test specimens were successfully investigated using the 2-hole tension specimens. In addition, it was confirmed that the non-uniform distribution of GF observed in the hole arrays region through the computed tomography (CT) scan is related to the crack propagation pathway, which ultimately affects the fracture behavior of the specimen.