Static mechanical properties of virgin and recycled short glass fiber-reinforced polypropylene produced by pellet additive manufacturing

The static behaviour of specimens made of virgin and recycled short glass fiber reinforced polypropylene filled with mineral filler has been studied. Specimens were produced by means of Pellet Additive Manufacturing (PAM) adopting different infill patterns to investigate the influence of material anisotropy. For comparison purposes, the mechanical properties of the same virgin and recycled materials were investigated also with injection moulded specimens. The fracture behaviour was investigated by analysing the damage at a macroscopic as well as microscopic level. As the main outcome, it was noted that both the manufacturing and the recycling processes play a crucial role in the damage mechanics of the specimens, thus explaining the different fracture behaviours noted at the macroscale.