Unidirectional 0∘ glass-fibre/PP and glass-fibre/MA-PP laminates were manufactured
by winding layers of glass fibres onto a 200 mm × 200 mm steel mandrel with alternating sheets of the polymer film (see Fig. 2).
The steel mandrel was covered by release-agent coated MylarTM sheets to avoid adhesion. After film stacking, the wound mandrel was let to dry in an oven at 90∘ for 1 h. Next, the mandrel was placed in a heated press at 25 bar and 200∘C for 1 h. The laminates were cooled in the press to minimize warpage. The volume fraction of fibres was determined both by burning of the matrix and image analysis, and found to range between 0.55 and 0.60