BIOBASED GRAFT POLYMER REINFORCED POLYPROPYLENE COMPOSITES

BLENDS OF BIOBASED FIBER SOURCES ARE MANUFACTURED AND CHARACTERIZED BY ASPECT RATIO FOR OPTIMUM PERFORMANCE IN A BIOBASED GRAFT POLYMER AS MEASURED BY MECHANICAL PROPERTIES AND SURFACE MORPHOLOGY IN COMPRESSION MOLDED TEST SPECIMENS. FROM 18 FORMULATIONS OF BIOBASED GRAFT POLYMER, THREE ARE SELECTED ON THE BASIS OF BEST OVERALL PERFORMANCE AND USED IN A BIOBASED GRAFT POLYMER COMPOSITE STUDY IN COMPARISON WITH A STANDARD COMPOSITE TYPICAL OF CURRENT MANUFACTURED PRODUCTS. BOTH COMPOSITES INCLUDE A GLASS FIBER MATRIX. COMPOSITE PERFORMANCE IS MEASURED ON THE BASIS OF 1) SURFACE MORPHOLOGY, 2) TENSILE PROPERTIES, 3) IZOD IMPACT STRENGTH, 4) FIBER:MATRIX BOND STRENGTH AND FRACTURE TOUGHNESS. COMPARISONS ARE ALSO MADE ON THE PROJECTED COST PER POUND OF COMPOSITE AND AMOUNT OF POLYPROPYLENE POLYMER REQUIRED PER POUND OF COMPOSITE.