Grantee Research Project Results

Final Report: Structural Components From Recycled Fiber-Reinforced Composites

EPA Contract Number: 68D01024
Title: Structural Components From Recycled Fiber-Reinforced Composites
Investigators: Unser, John F.
Small Business: GMI Composites Inc.
EPA Contact:
Phase: I
Project Period: April 1, 2001 through September 1, 2001
Project Amount: $69,961
RFA: Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) - Phase I (2001) RFA Text |  Recipients Lists
Research Category: SBIR - Pollution Prevention , Pollution Prevention/Sustainable Development , Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)

Description:

Fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) is a difficult material to recycle. The current methods used are grinding and thermal reclamation of the fibers. In the interest of economics, the direction that GMI Composites chose was to focus on the ground material made from FRP scrap and parts that have expended their useful life cycles. This research binds together already-proven industrial processes in an attempt to create a system that can utilize material that previously would have been discarded. The main vehicle for production of the recycled product is pultrusion, a time-tested method for making a structural member out of composite materials. In partnership with a pneumatic conveying system, a hollow pultruded profile can be cored with the recycled material, providing a structural piece that has a high-percentage recycled content by weight.

Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):

Success has been achieved in that a pultrusion cored with recycled material can be manufactured in a continuous process. The process was optimized to produce parts with low porosity. Testing confirmed that strength and stiffness are almost double that of plastic lumber and are comparable with that of oak planks.

Conclusions:

This project proved that the recycled cored pultrusion process is technically feasible. Due to the fact that the product can be tailored to different applications, the potential market for this material is rather large. The current focus is on a structural piece, ideally one that can act as a substitute for wood. The benefits derived from the corrosion and rot resistance of composite materials lends this material to marine structures such as docking or pier building.

Supplemental Keywords:

recycling, composites, pultrusion, marine construction, docks, fiber-reinforced polymers., Sustainable Industry/Business, RFA, Scientific Discipline, POLLUTION PREVENTION, Waste, Technology for Sustainable Environment, Civil Engineering, Civil/Environmental Engineering, Sustainable Environment, Municipal, Chemistry and Materials Science, waste reduction, Environmental Engineering, municipal waste plastics, municipal waste, waste minimization, recycling, composites, construction material, alternative products, plastic lumber