Mechanical behavior of PP/Wood flour composites

E. PEREZ; L. FAMÁ; S. GARCÍA PARDO; M. J. ABAD ; C. BERNAL

Porto

Congreso; 16th International Conference on Composite Structures; 2011

Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto

Polypropylene/woodflour composites with different fibre content were prepared by intensive mixing and compression moulding. The effect of fibre content and the incorporation of maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene (MAPP) on the materials mechanical behaviour was investigated. An increase in Young´s modulus was obtained with the addition of woodflour to PP, whereas tensile strength, strain at break and fracture toughness were found to decrease as fibre content increased. The presence of MAPP was slightly detrimental to the material stiffness but beneficial to tensile strength and had no significant effect on ductility or toughness. Although reduced ductility and toughness were observed for the composites, environmentally friendly materials were obtained with a reduction in the amount of non-biodegradable material and also with a cost reduction without sacrificing stiffness or strength.