On the Mechanical Recycling of Decommisioned Insulation Polymer Composite Components

Fibre reinforced polymer composites (FRPs) are being increasingly used in aerospace and automotive applications due to their high specific mechanical properties. The construction industry has also started taking advantage of the potential of FRPs for both structural and non-structural purposes. The result of this remarkable absorption of FRPs within the worldwide production market, has led to an immense increase of decommissioned thermoset-matrix components. Nowadays, the majority of the decommissioned FRP components are recovered energy-wise through incineration or simply discarded in landfills around the globe. Within the framework of this paper, we present a solution for the extension of the service life of decommissioned FRP components. Decommissioned electrical insulation FRP pipes were granulated and incorporated as fillers within both cementitious and polymer matrix composites. The effect of FRP granulates on the mechanical performance of cementitious and polymer matrix composites is examined to determine the maximum granulate-filler fraction that can be recycled without compromising the mechanical performance and manufacturing process. © 2020 IOP Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.Funding details: 2017-001986; Funding text 1: This work was funded by RECYTAL project (Vinnova/Energimyndigheten/Formas (Sweden) - RESource utlysning 2 (2016-2017), Project reference: 2017-001986). Authors are thankful to Marek Machowski (Chalmers University of Technology) and Peter Hellström (Swerea Sicomp) for their contribution to experimental testing. ABB Composites, Sweden, is greatly acknowledged for supplying discarded insulation FRP tubes whereas RAPID Granulator, Sweden, for shredding FRP tubes into fragments.