Compósitos madeira-plástico confeccionados com serragem de cambará (Qualea sp.) e resíduos de polipropileno

Abstract

The volume of sawdust and plastic lead to many environmental impacts. An alternative is the reuse of these in wood-plastic composite, materials with good physical and mechanical characteristics. The objective was to evaluate the physical and mechanical properties of manufactured composites with different proportions of polypropylene (PP) and sawdust. 4 treatments were made with 4 repetitions, the variation was the ratio of PP and sawdust (90%, 80%, 70% and 60% of PP). The composites were characterized by physical tests of moisture content, density, water absorption and thickness swelling, and mechanical tests of static bending resistance (MOE and MOR) and Rockwell hardness. The values of moisture content was below 4%, the density ranged from 0,78 g/cm³ in the treatment 60%PP to 0,91 g/cm³ at 80%PP. The largest absorption was 5,3% and 13,5% higher swelling treatment in both 80%PP after 72 hours. In mechanical tests the MOE and hardness showed no differences between treatments with average 1544 MPa and 54 respectively HRL, treatment 70%PP had the highest MOR of 24 MPa. In the physical characterization all parameters were according the specification standards. For mechanical testing only the MOR and Rockwell hardness values were according to the standards specifications, the MOE values were below the minimum required by the rules. The wood-plastic panels can be an alternative to recycling of sawdust and polypropylene as decking, table tops, floors, inner walls, etc.