The mechanical properties of unidirectional all-polypropylene composites

The creation of highly oriented, co-extruded polypropylene (PP) tapes allows the production of recyclable 'all-polypropylene' composites, with a large temperature processing window (> 30 degrees C) and a high volume fraction of highly oriented PP (> 90%). These composites show little deviation of mechanical properties with compaction temperature. This paper introduces all-polypropylene composites and reports the tensile and compressive properties of unidirectional composites. These composites show good retention of tape properties despite the relatively high temperatures used in composite manufacture. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.