Compression molding of reused in-process waste – effects of material and process factors

Abstract

Effective strategies for the reuse and recycling of in-process prepreg waste are needed to reduce economic and environmental costs. In this paper, we investigate the compression molding of prepreg waste converted into scrap "chips" (or strands). Material is randomly distributed within a lab-scale closed mold and cured with control of temperature and pressure. Material properties and process parameters such as chip geometry, fiber bed reinforcement, resin state, and cure cycle are varied and shown to influence porosity and thickness. These experiments clarify the phenomena governing microstructural quality and identify manufacturing pathways for high-quality parts. In addition, mechanical properties are measured for laminates with high and low defect levels. The study demonstrates the viability of prepreg reuse. Furthermore, the resulting insights provide a basis for practical science-based optimization of the reuse of production prepreg waste.

Use of recycled carbon staple fibers in an advanced thermoforming process and analysis of its crash performance

“…The manufacturing of this crash absorber geometry can be divided into four steps, as shown in Figure 6. At first, the plate materials were cut into square shape with a dimension of 275 Â 275 mm 2 and dried for 24 h at 80 C. For heating and forming, each square plate was mounted in a movable frame using springs on each corner to ensure the movability of the plate's edges in the molding process. The heating was performed between two infrared heater panels warming the plate from the upper and bottom side.…”

“…crash absorbers, in a fast and cost-effective thermoforming process. The advantage is not only the reuse of the carbon fibers but also the recyclability and an improved processability of the composite [1,2], which allows faster cycle times and tooling with a reduced complexity in production. Besides a high specific (density-related) strength and stiffness, fiber reinforced polymer composites (FRPC) offer a high potential for energy absorption.…”

Investigation on Recent Research of Mechanical Properties of Natural Fiber Reinforced Composites (NFRP) Materials

“…There are two components to produce composite materials, namely biodegradable natural fiber as shown in Table 2 (reinforcement) and metal, polymer and ceramics (matrix). Generally methods used are extrusion compounding, compression molding, injection molding and hand layup method [21][22][23] to fabricate polymer composite materials. As natural fiber is commonly increasing, their property is nonuniform.…”

A new approach for strength and stiffness prediction of discontinuous fibre reinforced composites (DFC)

“…These materials combine the formability of discontinuous fibre reinforced composite and mechanical properties of high-performance continuous fibre reinforced composites [9]. In addition to this DFC, the material provides a sustainability solution for the composites industry as these can be produced from recycled fibre and thus reduce the composite manufacturing waste by transforming them into a valuable product [10,11].…”