The Reinforcing Mechanism of Recycled Glass Fibers and Milled Glass Fibers in Polypropylene Composites

Abstract

A great amount of work has been done over the past few years to use the glass fibers reinforcing polypropylene (PP) composites. Due to the sharp resources recovery, and the global demand for fiber materials, there has been growing interest in the use of the recycled glass fibers (GF) (RGF) as an alternative. This work focuses on the reinforcing mechanisms of the glass fibers in PP composites. The reinforcing mechanism is evaluated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) on the basis of the energy dissipation theory. The GF are the excellent supporting bodies. Interfacial debonding, fiber pullout and breakage dissipate tremendous energy. These factors cause improvements in the strength of the RGF/PP and MGF/PP composites.