Materiais compósitos de matriz termofixa e fibras sintéticas oriundas de cabos de ancoragem

Abstract

The reuse of waste to obtain new materials is in full accordance with the principles of sustainability. This statement is based on two premises: a reduction in the amount of potentially polluting waste at deposit sites as well as a reduction in resourcing to raw pristine material due to the reuse of previous application materials. In this sense, several materials can be highlighted as potential candidates for reuse, especially those formed by synthetic polymers, which can be harmful to nature if improperly discarded. Synthetic ropes have historically been used successfully to anchor floating units, representing, in its decommissioning, a source of material that can be reincorporated into production processes as reinforcing elements of thermoset-based composite materials. Therefore, the objective of this work is to obtain thermoset-based composites reinforced with synthetic polyester fibers from post-consume anchor ropes, using epoxy and isophthalic polyester resins. Given the aforementioned, the mechanical, thermal and physical-chemical properties were evaluated, before and after up to 50 days exposure to NaCl solution at 25 °C and 90 °C (accelerated hydrolysis degradation). The mechanical, thermal and resonance results indicated that the fibers showed loss of properties, but not to an extent that they would be considered unsuitable for reuse as reinforcing loads. DSC results showed that the degradation caused an increase in the crystallinity of the fibers. MFI tests indicated that degradation produced a material with lower viscosity. The composite specimens with different thermoset matrices and amounts of fiber (up to 20%) were subjected to mechanical evaluation followed by Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The results indicate that the presence of fibers significantly increased the flexural strength of the brittle thermoset matrices, depending on the fiber and resin content, demonstrating the pronounced potential of reuse of fibers coming from decommissioned ropes as reinforcing elements of thermoset-based composites.