1. Expanded Waste Ground Rubber Tire Powder/Polypropylene Composites: Processing-Structure Relationships
- Author
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Kaushik Pal, Zhen Xiang Xin, Jin Kuk Kim, Sung Hyo Lee, Zhen Xiu Zhang, Bao Sheng Zhang, and Xu Deng
- Subjects
Polypropylene ,Materials science ,Central composite design ,Mechanical Engineering ,Composite number ,Plastics extrusion ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,chemistry ,Natural rubber ,Mechanics of Materials ,Blowing agent ,visual_art ,Materials Chemistry ,Ceramics and Composites ,visual_art.visual_art_medium ,Extrusion ,Composite material ,Porosity - Abstract
The usage of waste tire powder as dispersed phase in polypropylene matrix offers an interesting opportunity for recycling of the waste tire. In order to obtain ‘value added products’ from polypropylene (PP)/waste ground rubber tire powder (WGRT) composites, in this study, the processing of foamedPP/WGRT composites was investigated using a single-screw foam extrusion setup and chemical blowing agent. The regression models were constructed to study the relationships between the foam structure (i.e., void fraction, average cell size, and cell density) of foamed PP/WGRT composites, the processing conditions (extruder’s die temperature and screw speed), and the formulation compositions (WGRT content and blowing agent concentration) by applying a four-factor central composite design (CCD) statistical approach. The response surface plots generated using the regression models allow the rapid selection of the proper process parameters to obtain PP/WGRT composite foams with the desired density and morphology.
- Published
- 2009
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