Design and Optimization of the Thermo-Mechanical Behavior in Glass Reinforced Polyamide 6 For Automotive Application

In this work a rational approach, such as Design of Experiments, has been used to design E-glass and S2-glass reinforced polyamide 6 composites. The models, derived by the multivariate analysis of the experimental tests, allowed deriving response surfaces in which the effect of reinforce’s composi- tion, content and shape on the thermo-mechanical have been related to com- posite’s behavior during cycling loads and high temperatures. These composites find application in the developing of a sensor used in the automotive engine compartment where thermal and vibration effects must be taken in account to avoid premature failure. Thirty experiments were planned by Design of Exper- iments and analyzed through Analysis Of Variance to correlate reinforce’s properties to coefficient of thermal expansion, Young Modulus and damping over temperature/frequency variation. Statically reliable models were calculated to obtain a numerical estimation of the overall quadratic and cubic interactions among reinforce’s properties, explaining how matrix/reinforce interaction affects composite’s properties. Nevertheless, the employment of S2-glass led to restrained coefficient of thermal expansion of the composites, reinforce’s content of E-glass fibers over 30wt% is in a better agreement with the composite’s overall requirements for this tailored application, due to restrained mechanical damping.