Thermal recycling and re-manufacturing of glass fibre thermosetting composites

The impact of using thermally recycled glass fibre in re-manufactured composites was investigated. A unidirectional glass fibre thermosetting composite laminate was manufactured. The matrix in one part of the laminate was burnt off to recover the glass fibres. These recycled glass fibres were used to manufacture a new composite laminate with the same fibre architecture as the pristine one.

The fibres, the matrix and the composite laminates were thoroughly characterised and analysed. The results show that good materials quality was obtained for both laminates. A difference in fibre packing behaviour was observed in the composites with the pristine and the recycled fibres, which lead to a lower fibre volume fraction in the latter one.

The Young's modulus of the composites was not changed by the recycling process, if the lower fibre volume fraction is taken into account. However, a marked drop in the maximum stress of the composites was reported, which was found to be related to the loss in maximum stress of the fibres.