Effect of nylon 6 (PA6) addition on the properties of glass fiber reinforced acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene

In this study, short glass fibers (SGF) reinforced acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) composites were compounded with different amounts of polyamide 6 (PA6). The composites were produced by twin-screw extrusion followed by injection molding to study the effect of SGF concentration (0-30 wt%) and PA6/SGF ratio (25 and 50%) on the morphological, mechanical and rheological behavior of these composites. Both composites were mechanically characterized in tensile mode by quasi-static and dynamic mechanical tests. The morphology of the cro-fractured surface was analyzed. The quasi-static tensile tests revealed that the Young's modulus is significantly increased by using Short glass fiber (a gain of 20 and 13%). From all the results obtained, it was concluded that PA6 can act as a coupling agent between SGF and ABS which was confirmed by dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and rheological analyses. Although more work is needed to further optimize the properties of these ternary compounds, the results obtained may open new avenues for applications like automotive, sporting goods and electronics. POLYM. COMPOS., 39:14-21, 2018. (c) 2016 Society of Plastics Engineers