Effect of hot press parameters on the consolidation quality of biaxial knitted composites from commingled yarn

A GF/PP commingled yarns knitted fabric was processed into laminates composites by hot press and a processing parameters investigation had been carried out to determine the most suitable values of processing pressure, holding time and cooling condition. The consolidation quality was characterized by means of void content and tensile strengths. It was found that the void content decreases while the tensile strength increases with the increasing of holding time, and under the gradually cooling rate with pressure in hot press. Optimal processing conditions for manufacturing of commingled GF/PP biaxial knitted fabric composites were suggested.