The thermo-mechanical performance of glass-fibre reinforced polyamide 66 during glycol–water hydrolysis conditioning

Injection moulded glass-fibre reinforced polyamide 66 composites based on two glass fibre products with different sizing formulations and unreinforced polymer samples have been characterised by dynamic mechanical analysis and unnotched Charpy impact testing both dry as moulded and during conditioning in a glycol–water mixture at 70 °C for a range of times up to 400 h. Simultaneously weight and dimension changes of these materials have been recorded. The results reveal that hydrothermal ageing in glycol–water mixtures causes significant changes in the thermo-mechanical performance of these materials. It is shown that mechanical performance obtained after conditioning at different temperatures can be superimposed when considered as a function of the level of fluid absorbed by the composite polymer matrix.