Composite Structure Panels from Recycled Paper

Abstract

This paper analyses the development and market potential of composite structure panels and the processing technologies investigated during an industry sponsored project in which the partner company is not equipped to develop new materials beyond immediate application to their own product range. The composite material is based on using recycled paper with a gluing agent. The structural panel will be formed by a single moulding process instead of being fabricated in a number of processes. The shape of the panel has been optimised to reduce its weight and to enable it to be moulded from compounds using a high percentage of waste cellulose aggregates, which are presently either discarded from reclamation processes, or recycled into disposable products. Test samples produced at Nottingham Trent University (NTU) Civil Engineering laboratory have been tested to evaluate the influence of varying gluing agent ratio, moulding temperature and processing time in the mould on the composite material’s mechanical properties. For the structured panel an appropriate ribbing scheme is developed to minimise its weight.