Mechanical characterization and design of hybrid reinforced polypropylene composites with talc fillers and cellulose fibers

• Published in: Composites. Part B, Engineering Engineering, 2023-11, Vol.266, p.110971, Article 110971
• Main Authors: Kinoshita, Taiki, Yamamoto, Tatsuto, Luo, Chao, Ide, Kouta, Aoki, Kenji, Uetsuji, Yasutomo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Asymptotic homogenization; Cellulose fiber; Filler contribution proportion; Maleic anhydride modified PP; PP composite; Talc filler
• ISSN: 1359-8368; 1879-1069
• DOI: 10.1016/j.compositesb.2023.110971

Hybrid reinforced polypropylene composites (PPCs) were fabricated via injection molding, and tensile tests were conducted. The results showed that the addition of cellulose nano-fibers (CNFs) and maleic-anhydride-modified polypropylene enhanced the PPC elastic constant and tensile strength. The nonlinear properties of the composites were analyzed via two-step asymptotic homogenization. After confirming that the numerical simulation can predict the experimental results well, a new strain-energy-based indicator was introduced to quantify the filler addition effect. The mechanical properties of PPCs can be linearly approximated using the indicator, named filler contribution proportion, and a simple composite design based on this relationship was proposed. As verification examples, the elastic constant and maximum tensile stress of unknown PPCs were predicted within a 5% error. •Hybrid reinforced PP composites with talc and CNF were produced by injection molding.•CNF and MAPP effectively enhanced PP-composite elastic constant and tensile strength.•Two-step homogenization revealed nonlinear properties of PP/Talc/CNF composites.•Filler addition effect on mechanical properties was quantified by strain energy proportion.•Proposed composite design procedure predicted mechanical properties within 5% error.