EXPERIMENTAL STUDY AND DEVELOPMENT OF SUSTAINABLE SANDWICH PANELS

Abstract

The use of disposable plastic items has been increasing enormously throughout the past ten years. Despite comprising of recyclable polymers, thermoplastic waste has made international headlines as a major source of environmental pollution. For this thesis, multiple thermoplastic constituents were used to create different sets of sandwich panels that were tested and studied rigorously to determine whether a relevant structural application can arise from the current thermoplastic waste. Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) was used in fibre form to create a new fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composite used as the facing material for the sandwich panels. Polypropylene (PP) was used in the form of honeycomb as a core material to one set of sandwich panels. Another set of sandwich panels was made from recycled PET foam core, which was obtained from 100% post-consumer PET bottles. Mechanical properties of the sandwich structures and their different components were obtained experimentally and analytically.