Reaction injection pultrusion: A potential technique to process polyamide 6,6/carbon fiber composites

The main problem of using thermoplastic polymeric matrices in the processing of structural composites is the difficulty usually found in the impregnation of the fibrous reinforcement by the thermoplastic matrices, due to the normality high viscosity of the latter. Among the various processing techniques used in polymeric composites manufacture, pultrusion has been increasingly used due mainly to the low costs involved. The main goal of this paper is to show the advantages of combining the pultrusion process of carbon fiber with the simultaneous impregnation of the fiber by freshly synthesized polyamide 616, in a process called Reaction Injection Pultrusion (RIP). The main advantages of this process are the elimination of the thermoplastic polymer melting step, the elimination of the use of thermoplastic matrix with high viscosity, the production of impregnated fiber cables that allow the manufacture of components with different shapes and arrangements and also the use of different processing techniques.