DESIGN, MANUFACTURE, AND CHARACTERIZATION OF COMPOSITES USING ONLINE RECYCLED THERMOPLASTIC POWDER IMPREGNATION OF FIBERS AND IN-SITU FILAMENT WINDING

Recycled thermoplastic powder impregnated composites using in-situ fil ament winding and on-line consolidation of fibers have been successful ly manufactured with the modified filament winding setup constructed i n this study. Reclaimed low density polyethylene (RLDPE), reclaimed lo w-density polyethylene with polymer additives consisting of 0.25% by w eight of Cyasorb(R) UV-3346 Light Stabilizer; 0.25% by weight of Cyaso rb(R) UV-531 Light Stabilizer: and 0.08% by weight of Cyanox(R) 2777 A ntioxidant (RLDPE-PA), and virgin low-density polyethylene (LDPE) were pulverized to ultrafine powders ranging from 20 to 300 mu m, and util ized to impregnate a separated fiberglass tow. After initial experimen ts, two powder-impregnated composite tubes were manufactured for each thermoplastic material system. The composites were then tested for ten sile (hoop) strength and compressive bending strength under the ASTM D 2290-95 and C-ring tests, respectively. This study showed that while t he RLDPE composite did not perform well, composite samples made with R LDPE and polymer additives (i.e., RLDPE-PA) performed better than RLDP E samples but not as well as composites made of virgin LDPE. The impre gnation and consolidation steps in the manufacturing process were also effective for all three systems. The composite tubes exhibited very l ow void contents and high fiber volume fractions, while unmelted and u nconsolidated thermoplastic powders were not present in the manufactur ed parts. The absence of fiber waviness and fiber migration through th e thickness of the composite demonstrates that the online consolidatio n of powder-impregnated fibers was also effective. The collection of t he separated powder-impregnated fibers prior to filament winding also seemed to be sufficient.