Estimating creep deformation of glass-fiber-reinforced polycarbonate

Thermoplastic resin and fiber-reinforced thermo-plastics (FRTPs) were used without post-cure treatment as “molded material.” For such materials, creep behavior and physical aging occur simultaneously. This study examined the creep behavior of polycarbonate (PC) and glass-fiber-reinforced polycarbonate (GFRPC) injection moldings, including the effect of physical aging and fiber content, and determined that the time–temperature superposition principle could be applied to the creep behavior for different fiber contents. The effects of physical aging on creep behavior were evaluated quantitatively on pure resin and with various fiber contents without heat treatment. We found that the effect of physical aging could be evaluated with the proposed factor, “aging shift rate.” To discuss the linearity of viscoelasticity in FRTPs, this study used two shift factors: time and modulus shift factors. The fiber content affected creep behavior by both retarding and restraining it through changing the elastic modulus. This was shown by generating a grand master curve of creep compliance, which included the effects of time, temperature, and fiber content. Using the grand master curve of creep compliance and shift factors, it was possible to estimate the creep deformation of molded materials under varying conditions and fiber contents. The estimated creep deformation gave a very good fit to the experimental creep deformation.