Calendering Processing of Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE)/Glass Fiber Fabric (GFF)/Carbon Black Thermoplastic Composite Sheets: An insight into Thermal and Structural Performance

Fabrication of laminated composites consisting of thermosetting resins reinforced with glass fiber fabrics (GFF) usually involves successive hand lay up or fabric impregnation process to construct the entire composite. However, the brittle nature of thermosetting composites limits the wider use of such composites. On the other hand, the need for laminated composites of thermoplastic sheets reinforced with carbon/glass fiber mats is increasingly in high demand due mainly to the high flexibility and toughness of manufactured parts in different applications. In this report, we aimed at the fabrication of GFF reinforced waste low density polyethylene (LDPE) using calendering process focusing at the thermal/structural/properties relationships of the fabricated parts. Carbon black (CB) as the second reinforcement was also used to examine the effect of addition of CB on the overall properties of the composite specimens. The results emphasized a tight correlation amongst the structural and thermal properties of the parts with respect to the tensile properties of the specimens. It was shown that the degree of crystallinity and the crystallite sizes significantly impact the elastic performance of the parts whilst the incorporation of the CB resulted in an increase in the tensile strength of the parts.

Keywords:

calendering process , low density poly ethylene (LDPE) , thermal analysis , thermoplastic sheets , structural properties