Mechanical behaviour of pp/woodflour composites

E. PÉREZ; L. FAMÁ; S. GARCÍA,; M.J. ABAD; C. BERNA

Porto

Congreso; 16th International Conference on Composite Structures; 2011

Polypropylene/woodflour composites with different fibre content were preparedby intensive mixing and compression moulding. The effect of fibre content and theincorporation of maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene (MAPP) on the materialsmechanical behaviour was investigated. An increase in Young´s modulus was obtained withthe addition of woodflour to PP, whereas tensile strength, strain at break and fracturetoughness were found to decrease as fibre content increased. The presence of MAPP wasslightly detrimental to the material stiffness but beneficial to tensile strength and had nosignificant effect on ductility or toughness. Although reduced ductility and toughness wereobserved for the composites, environmentally friendly materials were obtained with areduction in the amount of non-biodegradable material and also with a cost reduction without sacrificing stiffness or strength.