Use of polyester/glass‐fiber residues as fillers for composites

Abstract

In this work, the performance of polyester (P)/glass fiber mats (G) and P/G/calcium carbonate (CaCO 3 ) composites was compared with that of P/G/ fiberglass waste composites. The residues used were conventional P/G postconsumer light resin-transfer-molding parts, obtained via knife or ball milling. Composites with up to 50 wt % reinforcement were prepared by hot compression molding and characterized via physical (density and water sorption), thermal (thermogravimetry and burnout), and mechanical (impact, Barcol hardness, and tensile) testing. The results show that the simple grinding and reincorporation of the composite residues yielded new composites with generally worse characteristics than the ones with calcium carbonate. Then, the waste was sorted by removing most of the pure resin particles from it. This yielded a resin-rich fraction, which could be better used for energy recovery and resin-covered fibers. The use of the latter as a filler yielded composites with better overall properties than those with calcium carbonate for a controlled amount of W; thus showing potential use as a replacement for the commonly used inorganic filler, maintaining the mechanical properties, decreasing the raw material cost, and reducing the amount of composite waste discarded in the environment.

Recycling solid residues recovered from glass fibre-reinforced composites – A review applied to wind turbine blade materials

“…Petterson and Nilsson observed a reduction of the BMC and SMC mechanical properties ranging from 13 to 51% compared to the composite made without SC, except for the flexural strength of the SMC, where an improvement by 16% is reported. The results from Silva et al 26 also show a general decrease in the composite mechanical properties made with SC, except for the test sample made of manually sorted SC, incorporated at a level of 15% wt. The tensile strength of that sample was similar to the test sample made with virgin fillers.…”

“…Silva et al 26 investigated the possibility of replacing virgin CC fillers with SC in resin transfer moulding (RTM) composites. For that, they prepared several RTM composite made of polyester and glass fibre mat incorporating either virgin filler or SC.…”

Fire resistance and mechanical properties of powder-epoxy composites reinforced with recycled glass fiber laminate

“…The presented occurrence is common for modified polymeric composites, especially with the addition of a filler in the irregular shape of particles, which often reaches insufficient dispersion in the polymer matrix [34]. Although the addition of 10 wt % of C fraction and 15 wt % of D fraction resulted in a significant increase in stiffness, EPC10 and EPD15 composites also exhibited improved impact strength, in contrast to the literature data -the impact strength decrease with recyclate loading [23]. The highest ability to carry violent shock type loads is demonstrated by EPD15, which reached 9.64 kJ/m 2 (instead of 8.80 kJ/m 2 ).…”

“…During mechanical recycling, the aim is to obtain as much fibrous fraction as possible, as the recycled glass fiber gives structural integrity to the polymer matrix [20] and improves mechanical properties. Such fibrous fractions from duroplastic matrix composites are widely used to reinforce thermoplastics [21,22] as well as thermosetting plastics, where recycled glass fibers are used as fillers to reduce the amount of pristine glass fibers [23] or as the main reinforcement in composites [24]. Beauson and others [25] used wind turbine blades to produce polyester composites containing 10, 20 and 30 wt % of the powderfiber fraction.…”

Tribology of composites produced with recycled GFRP waste

“…12 For this reason, the tribological behavior of these materials has to be investigated in the laboratory, following standard tests. 13 Thus, the aim of this work is to study the recycling of polyester/glass fiber (P/GF) composites incorporating their ground waste in new P/GF composites. The ability of this waste was mainly evaluated to substitute calcium carbonate used as filler in new compounds focusing on tribological tests carried out under different conditions.…”