Plastics are ubiquitous in everyday life, from common consumer products to durable goods. In order to increase the strength of plastics, thermoplastic materials are often reinforced with glass or carbon fibers. In the face of high loads and impact stresses at high and low temperatures, which are often not matched by ordinary short fiberglass materials, polymers begin to soften or become brittle, and long fiberglass-reinforced polymers are created. (Above left is short glass fiber, right is long glass fiber)

The production process for short glass fiber modified PP materials is not complicated, and there are many material manufacturers on the market capable of producing them.

However, the technical difficulty of long glass fiber modified nylon is very high, even in the world, there are only a few, Xiamen LFT is one of them, at present, the long glass fiber grade covers PP, PA6, PA66, PA12, TPU, PPS, PPA, PEEK and so on, a total of more than 30 specifications.

So what are the dimensional differences between long and short glass fibers and what are the application advantages?

Dimensional differences

Nylon particles of ordinary glass fiber:

Higher basic performance

As shown above, SFT/PA630 is a 30% short fiberglass material based on PA6 resin, while LFT/PA630 is a long fiberglass material. From the comparison of the physical properties, we can see that the tensile, flexural, and modulus are all improved to a certain extent, and in particular, the notched impact performance has taken a qualitative leap forward. In addition, there is a comparison between long and short glass fibers of PP in the figure.

Higher stiffness, strength and toughness

As the fiber length increases, the performance of the material gradually improves. Typically, long fiber composites are available in lengths of around 10-12 mm, although Xiamen LFT can also provide you with customized pellets in lengths of 6-25 mm.

Higher impact strength

As seen in our lab's hammer impact tests, long-fiber composites clearly outperform short-fiber composites when the test boards are subjected to different strengths.

Less anisotropic contraction

Shrinkage is critical to the dimensions of the part, and short fiberglass materials have much higher transverse shrinkage than longitudinal shrinkage and are more anisotropic, resulting in parts that are difficult to dimensionally control and shrink significantly.

Long fiberglass materials, on the other hand, have transverse and longitudinal shrinkage rates that are very close to each other, showing anisotropy, improving the risk of part warpage and making dimensions easier to control.

About Xiamen LFT

Xiamen LFT Composite Plastic Co.,LTD was established in 2009, is a brand-name global suppliers of long fiber reinforced thermoplastic materials integrating product research & development（R&D）, production and sale marketing. Our LFT products have passed the ISO9001&16949 system certification and have obtained lots of national trademarks and patents, covering the fields of automotive, military parts and firearms, aerospace, new energy, medical equipment, power wind energy, sports equipment, etc.

Xiamen LFT creates value for its customers by leveraging its comprehensive technical strength and synergy in the field of engineering plastics: it is more flexible to meet the needs of customers in terms of product diversification, localization of production and customization of applications.