Path: Main menu > Material > New fiber reinforced polymer… Tab: Components

Path: Main menu > Material > Edit material (file)… Tab: Components

To define glass fiber filled polymers first a polymer has to be added to the mixture. After this a particle diameter and the mass content of the polymer and the mixture have to be defined. In addition the material data of the filler has to be entered.

Figure: Dialog Glass fiber filled polymer

The material data of the filler are geometrical information, like the glass fiber diameter and the initial length. Furthermore, the glass fiber density, the thermal conductivity and the specific heat capacity of the glass material have to be entered.

For the fiber fracture calculation the data for the Young's Modulus and the elongation at break of the fiber material are needed.

The default-data in this example are defined exemplary for E-glass fibers.

Path: Main menu > Material > New fiber reinforced polymer… Tab: Viscosity

Path: Main menu > Material > Edit material (file)…Tab: Viscosity

Figure: Tab Viscosity glass fiber filler polymer

To consider the filler amount a simple correction according to Potente and Melisch is used. The flow conditions of the compound are described by a reduced channel height/radial gap height in dependence of the filler amount. Here, the following is valid for the channel height:

$$h_{korr} = (1 - \Phi) \cdot h$$

The result of the reduced height is an increasing shear rate which can be described as follows:

$$\dot{\gamma}_{Überhöhung} = \frac{\dot{\gamma}}{(1 - \Phi)}$$

With the help of this increased shear rate the viscosity of the polymer-glass fiber mixture is determined in the calculation in SIGMA: