On the recyclability of a cyclic thermoplastic composite material

The recyclability of a novel cyclic thermoplastic composite material has been investigated. The virgin composite was prepared by liquid molding the cyclic thermoplastic resin and a knitted glass fabric. The resultant high fiber content composite (58.7% fiber weight fraction) was recycled by grinding/compounding/injection molding process. A variety of physical and mechanical tests were then conducted on the blended cyclic composite and a baseline, commercially available short fiber reinforced thermoplastic composite. In general, the recycled cyclic composite demonstrated comparable properties to the baseline material. The only exception being the ultimate tensile elongation of the recyclate, which was almost 25% lower than that of the baseline. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.