Gardner Receives Dr. Jackie Rehkopf 2nd Place Best Paper Award At SPE Automotive Composites Conference & Exhibition

A paper published by Dr. Douglas J. Gardner was recognized with the Dr. Jackie Rehkopf Second Place Best Paper Award at the Society of of Plastics Engineers’ Automotive Composites Conference & Exhibition in recognition of excellence in technical writing.

The paper is titled: “Mechanical Properties of Hybrid Basalt-Carbon Fiber-Filled Recycled Polypropylene and Polyamide Composites.”

The abstract reads:

This paper presents results of a study examining novel hybrid recycled polypropylene and polyamide 6 composites using a combination of basalt fibers (BF) and carbon fibers (CF) for potential use in automobile applications. The composites were compounded using a laboratory scale co-rotating extrusion system, and test samples were prepared by injection molding tensile, flexure and impact test specimens. The tensile and flexural properties of the hybrid composites were determined using an Instron testing machine and the Izod impact strength was determined on Ceast Impact tester. Density measurements were made on the resulting composites. The thermoplastic composites made using basalt fibers and carbon fibers were evaluated for their material properties and compared to the properties of composite samples reinforced by glass fibers. Both of the two fibers (CF and BF) significantly increased mechanical properties and the blends of two fibers showed similar trends increasing mechanical fibers. Carbon fiber appears to be superior to BF in enhancing material property improvements which were found to be greater in the PA6 than in PP samples.