Joao Velosa - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Joao Velosa

Autex Research Journal, Aug 31, 2003

This paper is in four parts. The first is related to general considerations and experimental anal... more This paper is in four parts. The first is related to general considerations and experimental analyses, and each of the successive papers is related to different approaches to theoretical analyses of the mechanical behaviour of weft-knitted fabrics and weft-knitted reinforced composites made of glass fibre. The objective is to find ways of improving the mechanical properties and simulating the mechanical behaviour of knitted fabrics and knitted reinforced composites, so that the engineering design of such materials and structures may be improved. In Part I, general considerations, experimental analyses and ways of improving the mechanical properties of weft-knitted fabrics and knitted reinforced composites are discussed. In Part II the first model is presented, a 3D model based on the classic elastica theory, and it is used to calculate the load-extension curves of a plain weft-knitted fabric in coursewise and walewise directions. Good agreement is obtained between theoretical and experimental results. In Part III the second model is presented, a 2D model based on FEA (finite element analyses). A plain weft knitted fabric, based on the simple loop structure, is simplified and represented by a 2D hexagonal structure constructed by non-linear truss elements. The characteristics of the truss elements for FEA simulation are obtained from experimental results through an analytical method when a loop is converted to a FEA model. The elongation deformation is simulated in one, two and many directions. The model can also be used to calculate a planar knitted fabric to be deformed to fit a 3D spherical mould. In Part IV the technologies for the development of weft-knitted 3D complex shape preforms] are surveyed and a third model is presented, a 3D model based on FEA (finite element analyses). A solid representation of a 2D yarn is built up, and a MES (mechanical event simulation) is applied to obtain a 3D shaped loop. The final knitted fabric geometry is obtained by interacting this loop with the adjacent loops, according to the dimensional properties of the knitted fabrics and by using a MES. Finally, the geometry of the reinforcement inside the composite is built up, and the composite material is divided into small tetrahedric elements to obtain a mesh of finite tetrahedric elements (FEA). The average values of the mechanical properties are obtained with FEA and compared with the experimental ones.

American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Pressure Vessels and Piping Division (Publication) PVP, 2010

Polymer composites are an excellent alternative to replace more traditional materials in the fabr... more Polymer composites are an excellent alternative to replace more traditional materials in the fabrication of pressure cylinders for common applications. They minimize the weight and improve the mechanical, impact and corrosion behavior, which are relevant characteristics for almost all current and future large scale pressure cylinder applications, such as liquid filters and accumulators, hydrogen cell storage vessels, oxygen bottles, etc. A new generation of composite pressure vessels has been studied in this work. The vessels consist on a thermoplastic liner wrapped with a filament winding glass fiber reinforced polymer matrix structure. A conventional 6-axis CNC controlled filament winding equipment was used to manufacture the thermosetting matrix composite vessels and adapted for production of thermoplastic matrix based composite vessels. The Abaqus 6.4.2 FEM package was used to predict the mechanical behavior of pressure vessels with capacity of approximately of 0.068 m3 (68 liters) for a 0.6 MPa (6 bar) pressure service condition according to the requirements of the EN 13923 standard, namely, the minimum internal burst pressure. The Tsai-Wu and von-Mises criteria were used to predict composite laminate and thermoplastic liner failures, respectively, considering the elasto-plastic behavior of the HDPE liner and the lamina properties deducted from the micromechanical models for composite laminates. Finally, the results obtained from the simulations were compared with those obtained from the experimental pressure tests made on the thermoplastic liners and final composite vessels.Copyright © 2010 by ASME

This work presents the study that is being done at University of Minho concerning the development... more This work presents the study that is being done at University of Minho concerning the development of braided reinforced composites for civil engineering purposes. A research study has been undertaken to understand the mechanical behaviour of core reinforced braided fabrics. Various samples have been produced using polyester fibers, for the production of the braided fabric, and glass, carbon, polyethylene and sisal fibers, for the core reinforcement. The results of tensile and bending tests carried out in the correspondent core reinforced braided fabrics obtained are presented and discussed. Moreover, the influence of the testing conditions and the braiding angle is also presented and discussed. In order to produce braided reinforced composite rods to be used as concrete reinforcement, a special technique has been developed using a standard vertical braiding machine. The tensile and bending properties of braided reinforced composite rods have been evaluated and the results obtained are presented, discussed and compared with those of conventional materials, such as steel.

Journal of Composite Materials, 2010

This article presents an experimental investigation carried out to understand the mechanical beha... more This article presents an experimental investigation carried out to understand the mechanical behavior of composite materials made of 3D stitched woven-knitted basalt fabrics. The innovative preforms used consist of two outer layers of a plain woven fabric combined with two inner layers of weft-knitted fabrics. The weft-knitted fabrics selected for the study were varied plain knit, 1 × 1 rib, Milano, and interlock. The fabric layers were stitched together with Kevlar yarns. These 3D stitched preforms were impregnated with polyester resin using resin transfer molding, and the corresponding composites obtained were tested under tensile, bending, and impact loads. The results obtained show that the type of knitted structure significantly influences the mechanical performance of the 3D stitched woven-knitted composites. The composite using interlock structure as the inner layers has the best results concerning energy absorption and tensile strength. The varied plain knit structure has pr...

Journal of Thermoplastic Composite Materials, 2009

The article throws light on the physical methods to modify natural fibers to be used in composite... more The article throws light on the physical methods to modify natural fibers to be used in composites. Physical methods in natural fiber processing are used to separate natural fiber bundles into individual filaments and to modify the surface structure of the fibers so as to improve the use of natural fibers in composites. Steam explosion and thermomechanical processes fall in the first category while plasma, dielectric barrier techniques and corona fall in the second. The physical treatments have also been used to modify the thermoplastic polymeric films like polyethylene and polypropylene in a bid to impart reactivity. Reviewing such developments, the areas for further research are suggested.

Sandwich Composites, 2021

Abstract: The increased need to save material and energetic resources, allied with a growing conc... more Abstract: The increased need to save material and energetic resources, allied with a growing concern on the environmental issues and incertitude on the evolution of the economy, has impelled minimalist-approaches to Architecture and Engineering, reducing to the minimum necessary expression the building elements. The development of new lightweight materials, most of them composites with fibrous reinforcement systems, has interest for building materials and textile industries. However, these materials still do not have a significant implementation in the building industry or, at least, this implementation is not being made exploring all their potentialities. Non load bearing interior partition walls are thin elements built to divide the indoor space into rooms or other compartments. Porous materials applied in interior partition walls have a significant importance in these building elements because sound insulation is an important requirement. Walls must provide an airborne sound barr...

Some synthetic fibers present better mechanical performance compared with the natural fibers. The... more Some synthetic fibers present better mechanical performance compared with the natural fibers. Therefor research works were carried out to focus the characterization of polyester and glass fibers to be used as reinforcements in the internal dividing walls. Results from polyester fabrics made of compression with or without fiberglass were obtained.

This article presents an experimental investigation carried out to understand the mechanical beha... more This article presents an experimental investigation carried out to understand the mechanical behavior of composite materials made of 3D stitched wovenknitted basalt fabrics. The innovative preforms used consist of two outer layers of a plain woven fabric combined with two inner layers of weft-knitted fabrics. The weft-knitted fabrics selected for the study were varied plain knit, 1 Â 1 rib, Milano, and interlock. The fabric layers were stitched together with Kevlar yarns. These 3D stitched preforms were impregnated with polyester resin using resin transfer molding, and the corresponding composites obtained were tested under tensile, bending, and impact loads. The results obtained show that the type of knitted structure significantly influences the mechanical performance of the 3D stitched woven-knitted composites. The composite using interlock structure as the inner layers has the best results concerning energy absorption and tensile strength. The varied plain knit structure has proved to be the best suited to impart stiffness as it provides the highest Young's modulus among the above four knitted structures.

Polymers and Polymer Composites

Key Engineering Materials, 2002

Short fibre reinforced polypropylene compounds have been used to produce composites taking advant... more Short fibre reinforced polypropylene compounds have been used to produce composites taking advantage of its interesting properties and competitive raw material prices. For the same reason the short glass fibres are the most used reinforcement in injection moulded thermoplastic composites. In injection moulding, varying patterns of fibre orientation are obtained through the thickness direction and along the flow path. Moulding parameters such as injection flow rate or melt-temperature do affect the fibre orientation distributions in mouldings. It has been observed that the type of flow, being dominated by shear stresses (e.g. linear flow) or by extensional stresses (e.g. radial flow) affects the fibre orientation field. Other parameters may have an effect over the fibre orientation such as the fibre length distribution. During processing some degree of fibre breakage in unavoidable. The fibre contents, its length and orientation distributions cause anisotropy on mechanical properties. Efficient reinforcements are obtained in the direction of major orientation of the fibres and when longer fibres are used. In this work the effect of various fibre contents, by volume (0, 10, 20 and 25%) over the anisotropy of mechanical properties of injection moulded rectangular plates is explored. Specimens cut along and across the flow directions are subjected to tensile tests enabling to discuss the anisotropy of tensile mechanical properties.

Plastics, Rubber and Composites, 2009

ABSTRACT A new thermoplastic polymer for highly demanding applications (Primospire® PR 120) was s... more ABSTRACT A new thermoplastic polymer for highly demanding applications (Primospire® PR 120) was studied in this work. The relevant properties of the polymer were determined and a new piece of prototype powder coating equipment was designed and built to produce carbon fibre reinforced Primospire matrix towpregs. The towpregs were subsequently processed by compression moulding into final composite plates that were used to determine mechanical properties. Although significantly below from the theoretical expected ones, those properties were adequate for advanced composite applications.

Journal of Reinforced Plastics and Composites, 2012

Drug Development and Industrial Pharmacy, 2009

Solvent-cast films from three polymers, carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), sodium alginate (SA), and x... more Solvent-cast films from three polymers, carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), sodium alginate (SA), and xanthan gum, were prepared by drying the polymeric gels in air. Three methods, (a) passive hydration, (b) vortex hydration with heating, and (c) cold hydration, were investigated to determine the most effective means of preparing gels for each of the three polymers. Different drying conditions [relative humidity - RH (6-52%) and temperature (3-45 degrees C)] were investigated to determine the effect of drying rate on the films prepared by drying the polymeric gels. The tensile properties of the CMC films were determined by stretching dumbbell-shaped films to breaking point, using a Texture Analyser. Glycerol was used as a plasticizer, and its effects on the drying rate, physical appearance, and tensile properties of the resulting films were investigated. Vortex hydration with heating was the method of choice for preparing gels of SA and CMC, and cold hydration for xanthan gels. Drying rates increased with low glycerol content, high temperature, and low relative humidity. The residual water content of the films increased with increasing glycerol content and high relative humidity and decreased at higher temperatures. Generally, temperature affected the drying rate to a greater extent than relative humidity. Glycerol significantly affected the toughness (increased) and rigidity (decreased) of CMC films. CMC films prepared at 45 degrees C and 6% RH produced suitable films at the fastest rate while films containing equal quantities of glycerol and CMC possessed an ideal balance between flexibility and rigidity.

Composites Science and Technology, 2009

A new generation of composite pressure vessels for large scale market applications has been studi... more A new generation of composite pressure vessels for large scale market applications has been studied in this work. The vessels consist on a thermoplastic liner wrapped with a filament winding glass fibre reinforced polymer matrix structure. A high density polyethylene (HDPE) was selected as liner and a thermosetting resin was used as matrices in the glass reinforced filament wound laminate. The Abaqus 6.5.1 FEM package were used to predict the mechanical behaviour of pressure vessels with capacity of approximately of 0,068 m 3 (68 l) for a 0.6 MPa (6 bar) pressure service condition according to the requirements of the prEN 13923 standard, namely, the minimum internal burst pressure. The Tsai-Wu and Von Mises criteria were used to predict composite laminate and thermoplastic liner failures, respectively, considering the elasto-plastic behaviour of the HDPE liner and the laminae properties deducted from micromechanical models for composite laminates. Finally, prototype pressure vessels were produced in the defined conditions to be submitted to pressure tests. The comparison between the FEM simulations and experimental results are discussed in the present paper.

PRIMOSPIRE ® PR 120 thermoplastic polymer from Solvay Advanced Polymers, a new polymeric material... more PRIMOSPIRE ® PR 120 thermoplastic polymer from Solvay Advanced Polymers, a new polymeric material for highly demanding applications was studied in this work. The polymer mechanical properties were determined and a new prototype powder coating equipment was designed and manufactured in order to use the Primospire polymer as a powder matrix in the production of carbon and glass fibre based towpregs [1]. The results obtained since now lead us to conclude that this new polymer has very high mechanical properties. It was also already possible to obtain polypropylene/glass fibre (GF/PP) and polypropylene /carbon fibre (CF/PP) towpregs and to begin the production of new carbon and glass fibre reinforced primospire based towpregs.

Autex Research Journal, Aug 31, 2003

This paper is in four parts. The first is related to general considerations and experimental anal... more This paper is in four parts. The first is related to general considerations and experimental analyses, and each of the successive papers is related to different approaches to theoretical analyses of the mechanical behaviour of weft-knitted fabrics and weft-knitted reinforced composites made of glass fibre. The objective is to find ways of improving the mechanical properties and simulating the mechanical behaviour of knitted fabrics and knitted reinforced composites, so that the engineering design of such materials and structures may be improved. In Part I, general considerations, experimental analyses and ways of improving the mechanical properties of weft-knitted fabrics and knitted reinforced composites are discussed. In Part II the first model is presented, a 3D model based on the classic elastica theory, and it is used to calculate the load-extension curves of a plain weft-knitted fabric in coursewise and walewise directions. Good agreement is obtained between theoretical and experimental results. In Part III the second model is presented, a 2D model based on FEA (finite element analyses). A plain weft knitted fabric, based on the simple loop structure, is simplified and represented by a 2D hexagonal structure constructed by non-linear truss elements. The characteristics of the truss elements for FEA simulation are obtained from experimental results through an analytical method when a loop is converted to a FEA model. The elongation deformation is simulated in one, two and many directions. The model can also be used to calculate a planar knitted fabric to be deformed to fit a 3D spherical mould. In Part IV the technologies for the development of weft-knitted 3D complex shape preforms] are surveyed and a third model is presented, a 3D model based on FEA (finite element analyses). A solid representation of a 2D yarn is built up, and a MES (mechanical event simulation) is applied to obtain a 3D shaped loop. The final knitted fabric geometry is obtained by interacting this loop with the adjacent loops, according to the dimensional properties of the knitted fabrics and by using a MES. Finally, the geometry of the reinforcement inside the composite is built up, and the composite material is divided into small tetrahedric elements to obtain a mesh of finite tetrahedric elements (FEA). The average values of the mechanical properties are obtained with FEA and compared with the experimental ones.

American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Pressure Vessels and Piping Division (Publication) PVP, 2010

Polymer composites are an excellent alternative to replace more traditional materials in the fabr... more Polymer composites are an excellent alternative to replace more traditional materials in the fabrication of pressure cylinders for common applications. They minimize the weight and improve the mechanical, impact and corrosion behavior, which are relevant characteristics for almost all current and future large scale pressure cylinder applications, such as liquid filters and accumulators, hydrogen cell storage vessels, oxygen bottles, etc. A new generation of composite pressure vessels has been studied in this work. The vessels consist on a thermoplastic liner wrapped with a filament winding glass fiber reinforced polymer matrix structure. A conventional 6-axis CNC controlled filament winding equipment was used to manufacture the thermosetting matrix composite vessels and adapted for production of thermoplastic matrix based composite vessels. The Abaqus 6.4.2 FEM package was used to predict the mechanical behavior of pressure vessels with capacity of approximately of 0.068 m3 (68 liters) for a 0.6 MPa (6 bar) pressure service condition according to the requirements of the EN 13923 standard, namely, the minimum internal burst pressure. The Tsai-Wu and von-Mises criteria were used to predict composite laminate and thermoplastic liner failures, respectively, considering the elasto-plastic behavior of the HDPE liner and the lamina properties deducted from the micromechanical models for composite laminates. Finally, the results obtained from the simulations were compared with those obtained from the experimental pressure tests made on the thermoplastic liners and final composite vessels.Copyright © 2010 by ASME

This work presents the study that is being done at University of Minho concerning the development... more This work presents the study that is being done at University of Minho concerning the development of braided reinforced composites for civil engineering purposes. A research study has been undertaken to understand the mechanical behaviour of core reinforced braided fabrics. Various samples have been produced using polyester fibers, for the production of the braided fabric, and glass, carbon, polyethylene and sisal fibers, for the core reinforcement. The results of tensile and bending tests carried out in the correspondent core reinforced braided fabrics obtained are presented and discussed. Moreover, the influence of the testing conditions and the braiding angle is also presented and discussed. In order to produce braided reinforced composite rods to be used as concrete reinforcement, a special technique has been developed using a standard vertical braiding machine. The tensile and bending properties of braided reinforced composite rods have been evaluated and the results obtained are presented, discussed and compared with those of conventional materials, such as steel.

Journal of Composite Materials, 2010

This article presents an experimental investigation carried out to understand the mechanical beha... more This article presents an experimental investigation carried out to understand the mechanical behavior of composite materials made of 3D stitched woven-knitted basalt fabrics. The innovative preforms used consist of two outer layers of a plain woven fabric combined with two inner layers of weft-knitted fabrics. The weft-knitted fabrics selected for the study were varied plain knit, 1 × 1 rib, Milano, and interlock. The fabric layers were stitched together with Kevlar yarns. These 3D stitched preforms were impregnated with polyester resin using resin transfer molding, and the corresponding composites obtained were tested under tensile, bending, and impact loads. The results obtained show that the type of knitted structure significantly influences the mechanical performance of the 3D stitched woven-knitted composites. The composite using interlock structure as the inner layers has the best results concerning energy absorption and tensile strength. The varied plain knit structure has pr...

Journal of Thermoplastic Composite Materials, 2009

The article throws light on the physical methods to modify natural fibers to be used in composite... more The article throws light on the physical methods to modify natural fibers to be used in composites. Physical methods in natural fiber processing are used to separate natural fiber bundles into individual filaments and to modify the surface structure of the fibers so as to improve the use of natural fibers in composites. Steam explosion and thermomechanical processes fall in the first category while plasma, dielectric barrier techniques and corona fall in the second. The physical treatments have also been used to modify the thermoplastic polymeric films like polyethylene and polypropylene in a bid to impart reactivity. Reviewing such developments, the areas for further research are suggested.

Sandwich Composites, 2021

Abstract: The increased need to save material and energetic resources, allied with a growing conc... more Abstract: The increased need to save material and energetic resources, allied with a growing concern on the environmental issues and incertitude on the evolution of the economy, has impelled minimalist-approaches to Architecture and Engineering, reducing to the minimum necessary expression the building elements. The development of new lightweight materials, most of them composites with fibrous reinforcement systems, has interest for building materials and textile industries. However, these materials still do not have a significant implementation in the building industry or, at least, this implementation is not being made exploring all their potentialities. Non load bearing interior partition walls are thin elements built to divide the indoor space into rooms or other compartments. Porous materials applied in interior partition walls have a significant importance in these building elements because sound insulation is an important requirement. Walls must provide an airborne sound barr...

Some synthetic fibers present better mechanical performance compared with the natural fibers. The... more Some synthetic fibers present better mechanical performance compared with the natural fibers. Therefor research works were carried out to focus the characterization of polyester and glass fibers to be used as reinforcements in the internal dividing walls. Results from polyester fabrics made of compression with or without fiberglass were obtained.

This article presents an experimental investigation carried out to understand the mechanical beha... more This article presents an experimental investigation carried out to understand the mechanical behavior of composite materials made of 3D stitched wovenknitted basalt fabrics. The innovative preforms used consist of two outer layers of a plain woven fabric combined with two inner layers of weft-knitted fabrics. The weft-knitted fabrics selected for the study were varied plain knit, 1 Â 1 rib, Milano, and interlock. The fabric layers were stitched together with Kevlar yarns. These 3D stitched preforms were impregnated with polyester resin using resin transfer molding, and the corresponding composites obtained were tested under tensile, bending, and impact loads. The results obtained show that the type of knitted structure significantly influences the mechanical performance of the 3D stitched woven-knitted composites. The composite using interlock structure as the inner layers has the best results concerning energy absorption and tensile strength. The varied plain knit structure has proved to be the best suited to impart stiffness as it provides the highest Young's modulus among the above four knitted structures.

Polymers and Polymer Composites

Key Engineering Materials, 2002

Short fibre reinforced polypropylene compounds have been used to produce composites taking advant... more Short fibre reinforced polypropylene compounds have been used to produce composites taking advantage of its interesting properties and competitive raw material prices. For the same reason the short glass fibres are the most used reinforcement in injection moulded thermoplastic composites. In injection moulding, varying patterns of fibre orientation are obtained through the thickness direction and along the flow path. Moulding parameters such as injection flow rate or melt-temperature do affect the fibre orientation distributions in mouldings. It has been observed that the type of flow, being dominated by shear stresses (e.g. linear flow) or by extensional stresses (e.g. radial flow) affects the fibre orientation field. Other parameters may have an effect over the fibre orientation such as the fibre length distribution. During processing some degree of fibre breakage in unavoidable. The fibre contents, its length and orientation distributions cause anisotropy on mechanical properties. Efficient reinforcements are obtained in the direction of major orientation of the fibres and when longer fibres are used. In this work the effect of various fibre contents, by volume (0, 10, 20 and 25%) over the anisotropy of mechanical properties of injection moulded rectangular plates is explored. Specimens cut along and across the flow directions are subjected to tensile tests enabling to discuss the anisotropy of tensile mechanical properties.

Plastics, Rubber and Composites, 2009

ABSTRACT A new thermoplastic polymer for highly demanding applications (Primospire® PR 120) was s... more ABSTRACT A new thermoplastic polymer for highly demanding applications (Primospire® PR 120) was studied in this work. The relevant properties of the polymer were determined and a new piece of prototype powder coating equipment was designed and built to produce carbon fibre reinforced Primospire matrix towpregs. The towpregs were subsequently processed by compression moulding into final composite plates that were used to determine mechanical properties. Although significantly below from the theoretical expected ones, those properties were adequate for advanced composite applications.

Journal of Reinforced Plastics and Composites, 2012

Drug Development and Industrial Pharmacy, 2009

Solvent-cast films from three polymers, carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), sodium alginate (SA), and x... more Solvent-cast films from three polymers, carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), sodium alginate (SA), and xanthan gum, were prepared by drying the polymeric gels in air. Three methods, (a) passive hydration, (b) vortex hydration with heating, and (c) cold hydration, were investigated to determine the most effective means of preparing gels for each of the three polymers. Different drying conditions [relative humidity - RH (6-52%) and temperature (3-45 degrees C)] were investigated to determine the effect of drying rate on the films prepared by drying the polymeric gels. The tensile properties of the CMC films were determined by stretching dumbbell-shaped films to breaking point, using a Texture Analyser. Glycerol was used as a plasticizer, and its effects on the drying rate, physical appearance, and tensile properties of the resulting films were investigated. Vortex hydration with heating was the method of choice for preparing gels of SA and CMC, and cold hydration for xanthan gels. Drying rates increased with low glycerol content, high temperature, and low relative humidity. The residual water content of the films increased with increasing glycerol content and high relative humidity and decreased at higher temperatures. Generally, temperature affected the drying rate to a greater extent than relative humidity. Glycerol significantly affected the toughness (increased) and rigidity (decreased) of CMC films. CMC films prepared at 45 degrees C and 6% RH produced suitable films at the fastest rate while films containing equal quantities of glycerol and CMC possessed an ideal balance between flexibility and rigidity.

Composites Science and Technology, 2009

A new generation of composite pressure vessels for large scale market applications has been studi... more A new generation of composite pressure vessels for large scale market applications has been studied in this work. The vessels consist on a thermoplastic liner wrapped with a filament winding glass fibre reinforced polymer matrix structure. A high density polyethylene (HDPE) was selected as liner and a thermosetting resin was used as matrices in the glass reinforced filament wound laminate. The Abaqus 6.5.1 FEM package were used to predict the mechanical behaviour of pressure vessels with capacity of approximately of 0,068 m 3 (68 l) for a 0.6 MPa (6 bar) pressure service condition according to the requirements of the prEN 13923 standard, namely, the minimum internal burst pressure. The Tsai-Wu and Von Mises criteria were used to predict composite laminate and thermoplastic liner failures, respectively, considering the elasto-plastic behaviour of the HDPE liner and the laminae properties deducted from micromechanical models for composite laminates. Finally, prototype pressure vessels were produced in the defined conditions to be submitted to pressure tests. The comparison between the FEM simulations and experimental results are discussed in the present paper.

PRIMOSPIRE ® PR 120 thermoplastic polymer from Solvay Advanced Polymers, a new polymeric material... more PRIMOSPIRE ® PR 120 thermoplastic polymer from Solvay Advanced Polymers, a new polymeric material for highly demanding applications was studied in this work. The polymer mechanical properties were determined and a new prototype powder coating equipment was designed and manufactured in order to use the Primospire polymer as a powder matrix in the production of carbon and glass fibre based towpregs [1]. The results obtained since now lead us to conclude that this new polymer has very high mechanical properties. It was also already possible to obtain polypropylene/glass fibre (GF/PP) and polypropylene /carbon fibre (CF/PP) towpregs and to begin the production of new carbon and glass fibre reinforced primospire based towpregs.