THE MECHANICAL-PROPERTIES OF GLASS POLYPROPYLENE MULTILAYER LAMINATES

Multilayer laminates have been fabricated from thin sheets of glass and polypropylene. By the use of a special surface treatment applied to the glass surfaces, fully transcrystalline polypropylene layers could be formed. This facilitated the interpretation of the mechanical properties of the laminates in terms of the microstructure of the polymeric layers. It was found that the presence of transcrystalline layers leads to modest increases in flexural modulus and strength, and strain energy release rate Gc. These laminates can be valuable models for the mechanical properties of fibre-reinforced thermoplastics. © 1990 Chapman and Hall Ltd.