pps proceeding - Abstract Preview
pps proceeding
Symposium: S09 - Thermoforming, Blow Molding and Rotomolding
Oral Presentation
 
 

Development of Natural Fibres Reinforced Polymer Composite Foams for Rotational Moulding with Blowing Agent Loaded Kenaf Fibres

Lin Richard J.T. (1)*, Jung Daeseung (1), Cao Owen (1), Ye Claire (1)

(1) Center for Advanced Composite Materials, University of Auckland - Auckland - NewZealand

Due to the pressure-free nature of rotational moulding (RM), foaming during moulding and the addition of reinforcements are not easily achievable using this process. Despite some partial success from a few research, the quality of foaming and the reinforced moulded product have not been satisfying. In this research, it has been attempted to use a blowing agent to coat the natural fibre reinforcement before mixing the fibres with the polymer matrix to form the composite blend for the subsequent RM process, hoping to achieve a moulding with a more uniform fibre distribution as well as improved specific mechanical properties when compared with the normal foamed RM product. Linear medium density polyethylene (LMDPE) of different melt flow indices (MFI) were used as the polymer matrix to be reinforced by kenaf fibres. A maleic anhydride grafted PE (MAPE) was used as the coupling agent to enhance the fibre polymer bonding and urea was employed as the blowing agent to achieve foaming for the final composite moulding. The kenaf fibres were treated by urea through a solution method before being compounded with MAPE and LMDPE by extrusion to prepare the final powdery feedstock for RM. All of the mouldings were carried out with a two-axis rotational moulder using the peak internal air temperature of 190 oC as the heating cut-off point. Three mechanical, namely tensile, flexural and impact, tests were conducted on the samples to characterise the RM foamed composites. The results has shown that there is a proportional relationship between density and the mechanical properties. Between the composite and pure polymer foams, there is an increase in specific tensile strength when fibre reinforcement is added. However, the specific flexural properties remain the same and the impact property is decreased. Examining the optical microscopic and 3D CT scanning images of the composite samples, it was found that MFI has a significant impact towards the wall thickness and pore size. A LMDPE