Reactive Processing of Acrylic-Based Thermoplastic Composites: A Mini-Review

Abstract

The demand for thermoplastic composites is continuously increasing because these materials offer many advantages over their thermoset counterparts, such as high toughness, long storage time, easy repairing and recycling, and ability to be thermoformed and heat-welded. However, the manufacturing of thermoplastic composite parts using liquid composite moulding techniques (e.g. resin transfer moulding, vacuum assisted resin transfer moulding … ) is often tricky in the case of melt processing where high temperature and pressure should be chosen to impregnate the fibre reinforcement because of the high melt viscosity of thermoplastics. These issues may be overcome by means of reactive processing where a fibrous preform is first impregnated by a low viscosity mono- or oligomeric precursor and the polymerization of the thermoplastic matrix then occurs in-situ. This article draws a state of the art on the manufacturing characteristics of continuous fibre reinforced acrylic-based reactive thermoplastics (e.g. polymethymethacrylate (PMMA) such as Elium®), which are becoming more and more popular compared to other fast curing thermosets and thermoplastics for in-situ polymerization. Techniques for the in-situ polymerization of methymethacrylate monomers, characterization and modelling of the rheological properties and polymerization kinetics, and some manufacturing related issues such as polymerization shrinkage are reviewed. Particular features of the use of reactive PMMA in different manufacturing techniques of continuous fibre reinforced composites and potential industrial applications are also introduced. Finally, some perspectives for the academic research and industrial development are proposed.

Analysis and Minimization of Race Tracking in the Resin-Transfer-Molding Process by Monte Carlo Simulation

“…Recently, some thermoplastic monomers for in-situ polymerization have been developed as an effective way to address the recycling issue of thermoset resins [ 28 ]. During the mold-filling process, these thermoplastic monomers maintain a viscosity as low as their thermoset counterparts.…”

Rapid Impregnating Resins for Fiber-Reinforced Composites Used in the Automobile Industry

“…Recently, a novel liquid-reactive MMA has been developed by Arkema, named Elium ® . It has low viscosity and low processing temperature (room temperature), and it is used in conjunction with a dibenzoyl peroxide initiator [88]. Elium ® can also be used to impregnate fibers via the LCM process, which is the same method used as traditional MMA.…”

On the Hot-Plate Welding of Reactively Compatibilized Acrylic-Based Composites/Polyamide (PA)-12

“…Hence, manufacturing of large composite parts, such as wind turbine blades, becomes very difficult [ 10 ]. Arkema developed an infusible thermoplastic based acrylic resin to manufacture composite parts at the temperature range of 25–90 °C depending on the variants of the acrylic resin [ 11 ]. This thermoplastic resin, known by its commercial name Elium ® , possesses comparable in-plane mechanical properties to the high-performance epoxy resin after curing at room temperature [ 12 ].…”

“…This thermoplastic resin, known by its commercial name Elium ® , possesses comparable in-plane mechanical properties to the high-performance epoxy resin after curing at room temperature [ 12 ]. Elium ® matrix fiber reinforced composites can be manufactured by using the Liquid Composite Molding family such as Resin transfer Molding and vacuum infusion processes thanks to their low viscosity range from 50 mPas to 100 mPas [ 11 , 12 ] at room temperatures. The components of Elium ® acrylic resin are 2-Propenoic acid, 2-methyl-, methyl ester or methylmethacrylate monomer (MMA), and acrylic copolymer.…”