Influence of processed waste bagasse fibre-stone dust-6063 aluminium alloy particle on the characteristics of hybrid reinforced recycled HDPE composites

Abstract

A novel hybrid composite material was developed through the compression moulding technique by adding bagasse fibre, stone-dust and 6063 aluminium alloy (Al-Mg-Si) particles to recycled high-density polyethylene (rHDPE) matrix. The bagasse fibres were treated while the stone-dust and 6063 aluminium alloy (Al-Mg-Si) particles were sieved to particle sizes of ˂75 µm and ˂250 µm, respectively, before blending with the matrix. The work investigates comparatively, the influence of bagasse fibre-stone dust (hybrid-of-2) and bagasse fibre-stone dust-Al-Mg-Si particles (hybrid-of-3) on composite formation systems for reinforced rHDPE composites. The properties of recycled HDPE and rHDPE composites were thoroughly investigated through selected mechanical properties, wear resistance and thermal conductivity tests. The results show that the addition of bagasse fibre-stone dust-Al-Mg-Si alloy particles improves the mechanical, wear and thermal properties of the composites. The ultimate tensile strength was enhanced by 39% having a UTS value of 32 MPa, tensile modulus by 13% with a value of 98 MPa and wear resistance by 53% with a value of 0.8 g. SEM images showed that these reinforcements blended more properly when lower contents were added. This is responsible for the enhancement observed in the mechanical properties of the hybrid-of-3 reinforced composite.

Keywords

• recycling
• waste materials
• pollution control
• hybrid
• composites