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Observations of Short- and Long-Term Mechanical Properties of Glass Fiber Reinforced Polypropylenes with Post-Consumer Recycled Materials

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Abstract

In this study, the change in the mechanical properties of glass fiber-reinforced thermoplastic (GFRTP) according to the recycled material content was evaluated. The recycled material was polypropylene, with short glass fiber reinforcement, dry blended with virgin polypropylene and additional glass fiber, and injected into its final shape. It is known that during the recycling process, the length of the glass fibers decreases, which leads to the deterioration of the mechanical properties. Therefore, to compensate for the fiber length shortening, long glass fibers were introduced, and changes of the length distribution of the glass fiber and mechanical properties were investigated. Variation of key short- and long-term mechanical properties by introducing long fibers was measured and investigated by performing tensile test, Izod impact test, essential work of fracture (EWF) test, and fatigue test. Most of the mechanical properties showed a linear relationship with the long glass fiber content, but the percent elongation at break and the resistance to the crack initiation were significantly improved immediately after the long fiber was introduced. In addition, the distribution of fiber length was measured and analyzed, and it was found that significant fiber breakage occurred during the injection process and the recycling process including the chopping of recycled material. Finally, through the observation of fracture surfaces, it was validated that the ductile-to-brittle fracture mechanism transition was mainly caused by the poor compatibility between virgin and recycled materials.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Samsung Electronics, Korea University’s Eco-Friendly Energy Research Center. In addition, this work was also supported by the Industrial Technology Innovation Program (No. 20013294) funded by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) with the Korea Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology (KEIT).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, Korea University, 5-Ga Anam-Dong, 145, Anam-Ro, Seongbuk-Gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Byunghyun Kang, Donguk Kim & Byoung-Ho Choi

  2. Digital Appliances, Samsung Electronics Co, 129, Samsung-Ro, Yeongtong-Gu, Suwon-Si, Gyeonggi-Do, Republic of Korea

    Joo Seong Sohn, Nocheol Park, Kwangjoo Kim & Youngdeog Koh

  3. Mobility Compound Team 2, LOTTE Chemical Advanced Materials, 334-27, Yeosusandan-Ro, Yeosu-Si, Jeollanam-Do, Republic of Korea

    Hyeong-Jun Kim

Authors
  1. Byunghyun Kang
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  2. Donguk Kim
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  3. Joo Seong Sohn
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  4. Nocheol Park
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  5. Kwangjoo Kim
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  7. Youngdeog Koh
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  8. Byoung-Ho Choi
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Contributions

BK: Investigation, Data curation, Validation, Formal analysis, Writing-original draft. DK: Investigation, Data curation, Writing-original draft. JSS: Investigation, Validation, Resources. NCP: Conceptualization, Investigation. KK: Conceptualization, Resources. HJK: Methodology, Resources. YK: Conceptualization, Supervision. B-HC: Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing-review and editing, Supervision, Project administration.

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Correspondence to Byoung-Ho Choi.

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Kang, B., Kim, D., Sohn, J.S. et al. Observations of Short- and Long-Term Mechanical Properties of Glass Fiber Reinforced Polypropylenes with Post-Consumer Recycled Materials. Int. J. of Precis. Eng. and Manuf.-Green Tech. 11, 523–535 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40684-023-00574-9

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