Mechanical properties of commingled plastic from recycled polyethylene and polystyrene

Abstract

AbstractThe mechanical properties of commingled plastic in the form of thick beams prepared by the ET‐1 process have been examined in flexure and compression. The mechanical properties were evaluated in relationship to the hierarchical morphology described in a previous study. It was found that the flexural modulus was dominated by the properties of the skin and was satisfactorily modeled by approaches based on the observed micro‐morphology, such as the Nielsen and Davis models. It was not necessary to consider the skin–core macromorphology because the flexural modulus was dominated by the void‐free skin. The compressive modulus was lower than the flexural modulus and was strongly affected by the skin–core macro‐morphology. From the differences between the flexural and compressive moduli, it was determined that the core was essentially nonload‐bearing in compression. Flexural fracture initiated on the tension side of the beam and propagated rapidly through the thickness, whereas compressive failure occurred by longitudinal splitting of the skin. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.