Abstract
For the last three decades, fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composite materials have been widely used in major engineering industries. Managing FRP waste is becoming an important issue due to the growth in the production of FRP composite materials. In this article, the issue of FRP waste management is discussed and the commonly used methods for the handling of FRP waste are reviewed. One potentially viable use of FRP waste is in the partial replacement of fillers or aggregates in cementitious materials (particularly portland cement mortar and concrete). A number of important prior investigations performed on the use of FRP waste in concrete and mortar are reviewed. The results from most of those investigations suggest that FRP aggregates significantly reduce the strength of cementitious materials with little significant effect on durability. Recommendations for future research in this area are provided for producing stronger mortars and concretes incorporating FRP production and end-of-life waste.
Highlights
Fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composite materials are used extensively and increasingly in major industries including aerospace, marine, construction, electrical, automotive, domestic appliances, furniture, and sports equipment
Landfilling FRP waste is still the easiest and cheapest method for managing FRP waste in most countries, including the U.S environmental regulations are becoming tighter and it is expected that landfilling FRP will become more restricted, as it already is in several countries, including Germany
The most researched application of mechanically recycled FRP waste is its use as a partial replacement of fillers in new FRP composite materials
Summary
Fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composite materials are used extensively and increasingly in major industries including aerospace, marine, construction, electrical, automotive, domestic appliances, furniture, and sports equipment. A co-processing method known as the “cement-kiln” method that shares similarities with incineration has been introduced in Germany [14,18] In this method, size-reduced GFRP waste is fed to a cement production kiln as a raw material for the production of cement clinker and as a secondary fuel. Considering the increasing costs, environmental issues, and legislative limitations associated with landfilling and incinerating FRP waste, recycling and reusing waste is becoming an increasingly viable alternative for managing FRP waste. Oxidation is another well-documented thermal process in which the polymeric matrix is combusted in a hot and oxygen-rich flow of a gas such as air [10,26] Compared to pyrolysis, this method has a higher tolerance to waste contamination, but can result in shortening and significant strength loss of fibers [19]. They showed that by using their method over 50% of the original mechanical properties, such as the Young’s modulus, tensile strength, and interlaminar shear strength, can be retained
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