Mechanical Characterization of Short Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polyamide 66 Composites for Light-Duty Power and Motion Transmission Applications

There is a constant demand for innovative composite materials, light-duty power, and motion transmission applications. Polyamide 66 (PA66) composite materials reinforced with short carbon fibre (SCF) exhibit remarkable potential because of their lightweight, ability to withstand corrosion, smooth operation, and sound absorption properties. Traditional SCF reinforced PA66 composite materials used in light-duty power and motion transmission components lack sufficient strength, stiffness, and wear resistance. Tensile, flexural, compression, density, and hardness testing of specimens are performed on an injection molding machine and tested under ASTM and ISO standards. Experimental test results show that when SCF content increases, tensile, flexural, and compression strength, tensile and flexural modulus, and hardness increase, but decrease strain at the break value point. The tailor-made mechanical properties as standard data of composite materials help develop new materials. During the tensile test, some fibers are broken and agglomerated from the matrix rather than fractured. In the flexural test, SCF is significantly crushed, and fragmentation and disintegration of SCF and matrix are observed. During the compression test, no severe external damage, but only small groves and voids are observed due to the strong bonding adhesion between fibers and matrix.