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How to Prepare SMC and BMC-like Compounds to Perform Relevant Rheological Experiments?

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Abstract

The study of the rheology of injected or compression moulded compounds like SMC or BMC is made particularly difficult by the high content and the intricate arrangement of their fibrous reinforcement. For these two types of compounds, inappropriate rheological testing protocols and rheometers are often used, which leads to a very large scatter of the experimental data. This study describes specific sampling and specimen’s preparation methods, as well as dedicated rheometry devices to test their rheology. Following the proposed protocols, it is possible to obtain rheological measurements showing low scatter of the recorded stress values: about ±10% for SMC and about ±15% for BMC-like compounds.

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Acknowledgements

This work was performed within the ANR research program “3D discrete analysis of deformation micro-mechanisms in highly concentrated fiber suspensions” (ANAFIB, ANR-09-JCJC-0030-01), the ESRF Long Term Project “Heterogeneous Fibrous Materials” (exp. MA-127) and the ESRF project “Real Time Microtomography dedicated to the in situ rheology of fibre-reinforced polymer composites during their forming process” (exp. MA-878). O. Guiraud would like to thank the Région Rhône-Alpes (France) and the competitiveness cluster Plastipolis (France) for its research grant.

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  1. Laboratoire de Génie des Procédés Papetiers (LGP2), CNRS/Institut Polytechnique de Grenoble (Grenoble INP), BP 65, 38402, Saint-Martin-d’Hères cedex, France

    Olivier Guiraud & Pierre J. J. Dumont

  2. Laboratoire Sols-Solides-Structures-Risques (3SR), CNRS/Université de Grenoble (Grenoble INP-UJF), BP 53, 38041, Grenoble cedex 9, France

    Olivier Guiraud & Laurent Orgéas

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  1. Olivier Guiraud
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  2. Pierre J. J. Dumont
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  3. Laurent Orgéas
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Correspondence to Pierre J. J. Dumont.

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Guiraud, O., Dumont, P.J.J. & Orgéas, L. How to Prepare SMC and BMC-like Compounds to Perform Relevant Rheological Experiments?. Appl Compos Mater 20, 157–169 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10443-012-9261-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10443-012-9261-z

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