THE DEVELOPMENT OF POLYOLEFIN BASED ORIENTED GLASS FIBER BUILDING MATERIALS

摘要

The combination of physical properties of the 35% coated fiberglass composite material produced using optimized techniques exceeded the targets which were established for railroad tie use. The significant increases in mechanical properties can be directly attributed to the high degree of fiber orientation which is observed in these materials. The effect of fiber orientation caused the properties vs. additive (PP coated glass fibers in this case) relationship to almost exactly follow the observed relationship to HDPE-PS in our earlier work(3). This point is viewed as strangely coincidental. In both cases, it was found that it was possible to orient the minor (stiffer) phase in the major (less stiff) phase at low shear rates, thus optimizing the benefit obtained by the low quantities of the minor phase on the properties along the axis of flow. In the present case, orientation of the much higher melt flow PP in the lower melt flow HDPE is achievable fairly easily, taking the fibers imbedded in it along for the ride. The authors feel that this discovery has great commercial potential. The high degree of fiber orientation provided by utilizing the coated fiberglass materials allows the manufacturer of plastic lumber products to produce premium performance fiberglass composite products while minimizing the negative effects this material can have on production equipment and product weight.