Side streams from flooring laminate production – Characterisation and recycling in biocomposite formulations for injection moulding

• Published in: Composites. Part A, Applied science and manufacturing Applied science and manufacturing, 2022-02, Vol.153, p.106723, Article 106723
• Main Authors: Chinga-Carrasco, Gary, Zarna, Chiara, Rodríguez-Fabià, Sandra, Leirset, Ingebjørg, Tanase-Opedal, Mihaela, Molteberg, Dag, Echtermeyer, Andreas, Hindersland, Leif Kåre
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Analyse; Biocomposite; Biocomposites; Biocomposites, Wood fibres. Property; Building materials; Composite materials; Fibers; Finite element analyse; Finite element analysis (FEA); Finite element method; Floors; Injection molding; Material; Mechanical properties. Analysis; Mechanical property; Property; Pulp fibers; Side streams; Tensile strength; wood fiber; Wood fibres. Property; Wood products; Woodfiber
• ISSN: 1359-835X; 1878-5840; 1878-5840
• DOI: 10.1016/j.compositesa.2021.106723

Side streams were collected from three locations in a flooring factory and their suitability in biocomposite formulations was assessed. The side stream (S3) that contained mainly residues from high-density fibreboards (HDF) was selected for further material testing. The effect of different fractions of S3, thermomechanical pulp (TMP) fibres and polylactic acid (PLA) were assessed in terms of their mechanical, melt flow and thermal properties. A biocomposite made from PLA, 20 wt% TMP fibres and 10 wt% S3 revealed a significant increase in modulus (5800 MPa), compared to the neat PLA (3598 MPa), and a similar melt-flow index (MFI = 4.5). The tensile strength was however somewhat reduced from 66 to 58 MPa. Importantly, numerical modelling and simulations were applied to demonstrate that building a model chair out of biocomposite can potentially reduce the material volume by 12% while maintaining similar load bearing capacity, compared to neat PLA.