A mechanical analysis on recycled PET/HDPE composites

The large amount of disposable bottles presently produced makes imperative the search for alternative procedures for recycling or reuse of these materials, since they are not biodegradable. As chemical processing is most often costly and sometimes aggressive to the environment, a possible solution is the recycling of such material by thermo-mechanical techniques. This paper takes into consideration the thermo-mechanical recycling of post-consumed plastic bottles, especially the ones made of polyethylene terephtalate (PET), and its use as composite materials for engineering applications. To be able to evaluate the new composite performance from the mechanics point of view, i.e. stiffness and machinability, two sets of tests were carried out. For the first set, compression tests were applied. For the machinability evaluation, the final roughness was measured after the milling procedure at different speeds and leads. Experimental data showed good performance for compression and machinability. Finally, spur gears were cut from cylindrical specimens made of PET/HDPE blend. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.