Liquefaction of soil is one of the major contributing factors for damages of infrastructures and utility services during earthquake. Liquefaction occurs when short strong shaking creates undrained loading condition in saturated soil deposit thereby increases pore water pressure, which eventually equals the effective confining pressure resulting in significant reduction in shear strength and bearing capacity of soil deposit. Several studies have been conducted to investigate the effect of polypropylene fiber on sand deposit as a measure to prevent liquefaction but most of them are based on static tests. Therefore, the present study, tries to understand liquefaction characteristics of sand reinforced with polypropylene fiber based on cyclic triaxial test. The main objectives of this study are (i) to explore the effect of polypropylene fiber on pore pressure generation and deformation characteristics of sand, and (ii) to observe the effect of confining pressure on liquefaction characteristics of sand-fiber mixture. A series of stress controlled cyclic triaxial tests were performed at 5 and 10 psi effective confining pressures. At 5 psi effective confining pressure, specimens of clean sand, and sand containing 0.05, 0.075, 0.1, and 0.3% polypropylene fiber by dry weight were tested at 0.2, 0.25, 0.3, and 0.4 Cyclic Stress Ratio (CSR). However, at 10 psi effective confining pressure, specimens were also tested for 0.5%, and 0.75% fiber in addition to those at 5 psi confining pressure at 0.2, 0.3, and 0.4 CSR. Based on the test results, it was observed that, cyclic shear stress increases with the increase in initial effective confining pressure. Also, for a given CSR, liquefaction resistance decreased with the increase in effective confining pressure. Furthermore, significant improvement in liquefaction resistance was observed when the fiber content exceeded beyond 0.075% at 5 psi confining stress. However, at 10 psi confining pressure, addition of fiber did not help in improvement of liquefaction resistance of sand except when cyclic shear stress was applied at 0.2 CSR. At 0.2 CSR, although the specimens did liquefy based on pore pressure generation criteria at all fiber contents, specimens containing 0.5% and 0.75% fiber did not ever reach 2.5% and 5% DA (Double Amplitude) deformation throughout 1000 loading cycles.

Orientador: Márcia Rita Fernandes Machado / Banca: Andrigo Barboza de Nardi / Banca: Fabrício Singaretti de Oliveira / Banca: Flavia Thomaz Verechia Pereira / Banca: Marta Maria Circhia Pinto Luppi / Resumo: Na busca de material biológico alternativo para a realização de implantes, objetivou-se com o presente estudo avaliar comparativamente a implantação do peritônio da paca conservado em glicerina a 98%, uma nova opção de biomaterial e a tela de polipropileno, consagrada prótese sintética na parede abdominal de ratos Wistar. Foram utilizados 60 ratos, machos, da linhagem Wistar pesando entre 150 e 200 gramas organizados nos seguintes grupos experimentais: grupo controle (GI), grupo peritônio conservado em glicerina a 98% (GII) e grupo tela de polipropileno (GIII), cada um com 20 animais. O grupo GII recebeu o enxerto de peritônio da paca conservado em glicerina 98%, o grupo GIII recebeu o enxerto da tela de polipropileno e o grupo GI não recebeu a membrana. Cinco ratos de cada grupo foram submetidos à eutanásia em quatro momentos distintos: sete, 15, 30 e 60 dias de pós-operatórios para avaliações macroscópicas e microscópicas da interface implante-tecido nativo. Em 100% dos animais do grupo GII e GIII houve boa cicatrização da membrana. Na análise histológica, nos animais que receberam o peritônio da paca preservado em glicerina a 98% ficou demonstrada reação inflamatória aguda (M7 e M15), que gradativamente foi desaparecendo e a membrana foi sendo substituída por tecido conjuntivo fibroso (M30 e M60). Nos animais do GIII que receberam a tela de polipropileno verificou-se infiltrado inflamatório com predominância de mononucleares (M7, M15, M30 e M60), que gradativamente foi desaparecendo e a membrana foi sendo substituída por tecido conjuntivo fibroso (M30 e M60). Pode-se concluir que o peritônio da paca conservado em glicerina e a tela de polipropileno, promoveram reforço abdominal satisfatório no reparo de defeito produzido na parede abdominal de ratos / Abstract: In search of alternative biological material to perform implants, this study aimed to compare the implantation of paca peritoneum preserved in glycerin 98% a new option of biomaterial and polypropylene mesh , consecrated synthetic prosthesis in the abdominal wall of wistar rats. A total of 60 male rats of wistar strain weighting between 150 and 200 grams housed into three diferent experimental groups: control group (GI), peritoneum preserved in glycerin 98% (GII) and polypropylene mesh group, with 20 animals each one. The group GII received the paca peritoneum graft preserved in glycerin 98%, the group GIII received the polypropylene mesh and the group GI did not receive any membrane. Five rats from each group were euthanized at four different times: seven, 15, 30 and 60 days postsurgery to macroscopic and microscopic evaluations in graft-native tissue interface. 100% of the animals of the GII and GIII had good healing of the membrane. On histological examination, the animals that had received the paca peritoneum graft preserved in glycerin 98% , showed inflammatory infiltrates (M7 and M15), wich gradually disappeared and the membrane was replaced by connective tissue (M30 e M60). The animals that received the polypropylene mesh had inflammatory infiltrates with predominance of mononucleares (M7, M15, M30 and M60), wich gradually disappeared and the membrane was being replaced by connective tissue (M30 e M60). It was concluded that the paca peritoneum conserved in glycerin 98% and the polypropylene mesh promote strengthening abdominal quite satisfying in repair induced defect in the abdominal wall of rats / Doutor

O presente trabalho buscou avaliar o processo de co-pirólise de resíduos de polipropileno com gasóleo, variando a temperatura e a quantidade de polipropileno no meio reacional. A co-pirólise é uma rota promissora, uma vez que minimiza o impacto ambiental causado pela disposição do plástico de maneira inadequada, evita seu acúmulo em lixões e permite um melhor aproveitamento de um recurso natural não-renovável, o petróleo, matéria-prima importante para a geração de energia e obtenção de produtos químicos. As amostras de polipropileno e gasóleo foram submetidas à co-pirólise térmica em atmosfera inerte, em sistema de leito fixo, sob fluxo constante de nitrogênio, variando a temperatura de 400C a 500C e a quantidade de PP no meio reacional de 0,1 a 1,0 g. A influência do gasóleo no meio foi avaliada pelos testes na ausência de PP. Os líquidos pirolíticos obtidos foram caracterizados por cromatografia gasosa modificada, com o objetivo de avaliar a geração de frações na faixa da destilação do diesel. De uma maneira geral, pôde-se observar que o aumento da quantidade de PP no meio reacional favorece a redução do rendimento de líquido pirolítico e o aumento da quantidade de sólido gerado, efeito inverso ao do aumento da temperatura. Com relação ao rendimento geral de produtos na faixa de destilação do diesel na co-pirólise, a adição de PP ao meio não interfere muito no resultado. Já o aumento de temperatura favorece o aumento do rendimento de produtos nessa faixa de destilação. Os resultados obtidos comprovam o potencial da co-pirólise como método de reciclagem química de artefatos de polipropileno pós-consumo / In this study, the process of co-pyrolysis of polypropylene (PP) residues with gas-oil was evaluated, varying the temperature and the amount of polypropylene fed to the reactor. The co-pyrolysis is a promising route to minimize the environmental impact caused by the inadequate disposal of plastics, preventing its accumulation in landfields and giving a better use of the non renewable raw material (oil). The polypropylene samples and gas-oil were submitted to the thermal co-pyrolysis in an inert atmosphere, varying the temperature from 400C to 500C and the amount of PP from 0,1 to 1,0g. The influence of the gas-oil was evaluated carrying the co-pyrolysis in the absence of PP. The pyrolysed liquids produced by this thermal treatment were characterized by modified gaseous chromatography in order to evaluate the yield in the range of distillation of diesel. As a result, the increase of PP amount lead to a reduction in the yield of the pyrolytic liquid and to an increase of the amount of solid generated. The effect of temperature increase showed an inverse result. The addition of PP in the reactor showed little influence in the yield of diesel in the co-pyrolysis. On the other hand, an increase in temperature favors the increase of products in this range of destillation. The results show that plastic residue co-pyrolysys is a potential method for chemical recycling of plastic products

Neste trabalho foram obtidos nanocompósitos de polipropileno (PP) e argilas. Três tipos de PP com índices de fluidez de 1,5; 2,2 e 37,9 g/10min (230ºC/216kg) foram utilizados. O PP com maior índice de fluidez é um produto modificado com peróxido. Essas amostras de PP foram misturadas ao masterbatch da Nanocor nanoMax®-PP. Concentrações de masterbatch variando de 3 a 12% em peso foram utilizadas. Os compósitos foram obtidos em uma extrusora dupla rosca e em um misturador. O Masterbatch foi caracterizado por fluorescência de raios X, difração de raios X (DRX) e por espectroscopia no infravermelho (FTIR). Os compósitos foram caracterizados por DRX, microscopia ótica (MO) e de transmissão (MET), e reologicamente. A caracterização reológica foi realizada conduzindo ensaios de varredura de tempo e ensaios de Cisalhamento Oscilatório de Pequena Amplitude (COPA) no regime de viscoelasticidade linear. Ensaios utilizando uma matriz cônica que permite a avaliação da viscosidade elongacional foram também conduzidos. Com essa matriz foi também possível a avaliação da viscosidade de cisalhamento dos compósitos para taxas de cisalhamento que correspondem a regime de viscoelasticidade linear. Os resultados da caracterização do Masterbatch mostraram que este consiste de uma mistura de polipropileno enxertado com anidrido maleico e uma argila do tipo esmectita, predominantemente montmorilonita (MMT). O espaçamento basal das argilas nos compósitos obtidos foi maior do que aquele da argila no masterbatch para todos os compósitos, diminuindo com o aumento da concentração de masterbatch no compósito. A viscosidade dos compostos obtidos aumentou com o tempo durante os ensaios de varredura de tempo devido a variações morfológicas. Essas variações foram mais importantes quando a freqüência utilizada no ensaio era menor. Essas variações foram correlacionadas com a evolução da morfologia dos compostos em função do tempo. O módulo de armazenamento obtido nos ensaios de COPA a baixas frequências para os compósitos foi maior do que o módulo dos polímeros puros para concentrações de argila acima de 6%. Esse aumento do módulo foi muito mais intenso para o PP de maior índice de fluidez. Os ensaios de caracterização reológica utilizando a matriz cônica mostraram que os nanocompósitos não seguem a Regra de Cox-Merz e que para o PP de maior índice de fluidez a viscosidade elongacional aumenta com o aumento da concentração de masterbatch. / In this work nanocomposites of polypropylene (PP) were obtained. Three types of PP with melt flow rates of 1,5; 2,2 e 37,9 g/10min (230ºC/216kg) were used. The PP with the largest melt flow rate is a product modified with peroxide. These samples were mixed with PP masterbatch Nanocor nanoMax ®-PP. Masterbatch in different concentrations ranging from 3 to 12 wt%. The composites were obtained using a twin screw extruder and internal mixer. The masterbatch was characterized by X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The composites were characterized by XRD, optical microscopy (OM) and transmission (TEM) and rheologically. The rheological characterization was made carrying out time sweep, small amplitude oscillatory shear (SAOS) tests in order to study the rheological behavior on the linear viscoelastic regime. Tests using a conical diewith which it is possible to measure elongational viscosity were also conducted. The shear viscosity at high shear rates was evaluated using a slit die The characterization results showed that the masterbatch is a mixture of polypropylene grafted with maleic anhydride and a smectite type clay, predominantly montmorillonite (MMT). The basal spacing of clay in the composites was greater than that of the clay within the masterbatch for every composites. It was shown to decrease with increasing concentration of masterbatch in the composite. The viscosity of composites increased during the time sweep experiments. This evolution of viscosity was attributed to changes of morphology of the composites. These variations were more important when the frequency used in the test was lower. The storage modulus obtained during COPA at low frequencies for composites was higher than the modulus of the pure polymers when the clay content was above 6%. This increase in modulus was greater for the lower melt flow index PP The rheological tests performed using the slit die showed that Cox-Merz rule was not valid for the composites. The elongational viscosity was shown to increase with increasing concentration of masterbatch.

Metallised polypropylene (MPP) capacitors, the dominant capacitor type used in a wide range of power and electronic circuit applications, offer high volumetric capacitor density, low cost, excellent frequency characteristics and a unique ability to recover from point failures in the dielectric film. However MPP capacitors have a generic weakness that is not well understood, failure of the self-healing process leading to ongoing catastrophic failure. The work described in this thesis includes the derivation of an improved electrical model of a capacitor and the uncovering of a mechanism for the catastrophic failure mode. Corrosion of the thin metallic field is firmly linked to drastic increases in metal film current densities and generation of hot spots in capacitors. In the work, novel formulae were derived relating capacitor parameters such as equivalent series resistance and equivalent series capacitance to frequency and physical characteristics such as metal film resistivity and physical dimensions of multiple layer capacitors. Modelling using numerical methods and diffusion equation showed that capacitors with double-end connection topology have more uniform voltage and power distribution than single-end connected capacitors. External characteristics of both connection topologies were shown to be virtually identical up to frequencies well above typical self-resonance. The aggregate spatial distribution of power from both layers and the voltage across the dielectric were found to be fundamentally different in the two circuit connection topologies. In this work it was shown that above singularity frequencies defined by distributed capacitance and metal film spreading resistance, equivalent series resistance and capacitance both fall with the square root of frequency Analysis of the inductance of typical MPP capacitors for single-end and double-end connected topologies and for circumferentially connected capacitor metallization showed that the magnitude and effect of distributed inductance in typical MPP power capacitors was insignificant compared to packaging inductance. Thermal and electrical modelling and experimental measurements showed that corrosion effects could readily account for the generic catastrophic failure mode of metallised polypropylene capacitors. Modelling showed that remnant vestiges of metal bridging corrosion gaps between the schooping and the metallic film could also pose serious thermal danger to the affected capacitor. Fusing current modelling and experimental measurement showed that fusing in metallic films typically occurred for current densities of several hundred thousand amperes per square centimetre. The partial disconnection of the metallic layers from the schooping edge by corrosion for example, was shown to result in large increases in dissipation factor and power loss in a capacitor readily explaining how capacitors

Composites are combinations of mainly two different components: the matrix and the filler/reinforcement. In the thermoplastic composites industry, natural fibers from agricultural crops have been emerged as alternative fillers. Crops such as wheat straw are renewable and low cost materials that, combined with thermoplastics such as polypropylene, provide engineering products with unique characteristics. The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of processing conditions and composite formulation in the final properties of the composites. For these purposes wheat straw fibres and polypropylene (PP) were compounded in a batch mixer under a number of different thermal conditions and formulations. Fiber loading in the range from 0 to 60 wt-% was examined and the individual effects of two coupling agents (maleic anhydride modified polypropylene and maleic acid ethylene copolymer) and a lubricant were also studied. Particle size, morphology, thermal and mechanical properties and water uptake behaviour were inspected with appropriate techniques. Wheat straw particle size distribution was studied through image analysis; distribution curves for length and width of the particles were recorded in two stages of the project: previous and after compounding the natural material with polypropylene. Morphology of wheat straw particles and wheat straw-polypropylene composites were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Thermal properties including melting temperature and crystallization temperature of composites and pure resin were obtained from differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) performed on the samples; percentage of crystallinity was also calculated from the heat of fusion obtained from those tests. Mechanical properties, such as flexural modulus and flexural yield strength, were accessed in a miniature materials tester. Water absorption of selected composite samples was evaluated after immersion of the samples in a water bath. Water absorption curves were used to calculate the water diffusion coefficient (diffusivity) of the composites. Image analysis revealed the changes in the wheat straw structure due to shear forces during processing and improvement of adhesion between matrix and filler in compositions containing coupling agent. Small changes in the percentage of crystallinity of the thermoplastic phase were observed in all composites tested. Flexural tests revealed behaviour trends for the composites tested. Water uptake appeared to be a severe problem on natural fiber composites due to color fading, dimension instability and significant weight gains. Results from this work allowed the determination of some effects of processing temperature, fiber loading and use of additives on the final properties of wheat straw- polypropylene composites, thus making contributions to the scientific work that has been realized on natural fiber composites.

Composites are combinations of mainly two different components: the matrix and the filler/reinforcement. In the thermoplastic composites industry, natural fibers from agricultural crops have been emerged as alternative fillers. Crops such as wheat straw are renewable and low cost materials that, combined with thermoplastics such as polypropylene, provide engineering products with unique characteristics. The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of processing conditions and composite formulation in the final properties of the composites. For these purposes wheat straw fibres and polypropylene (PP) were compounded in a batch mixer under a number of different thermal conditions and formulations. Fiber loading in the range from 0 to 60 wt-% was examined and the individual effects of two coupling agents (maleic anhydride modified polypropylene and maleic acid ethylene copolymer) and a lubricant were also studied. Particle size, morphology, thermal and mechanical properties and water uptake behaviour were inspected with appropriate techniques. Wheat straw particle size distribution was studied through image analysis; distribution curves for length and width of the particles were recorded in two stages of the project: previous and after compounding the natural material with polypropylene. Morphology of wheat straw particles and wheat straw-polypropylene composites were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Thermal properties including melting temperature and crystallization temperature of composites and pure resin were obtained from differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) performed on the samples; percentage of crystallinity was also calculated from the heat of fusion obtained from those tests. Mechanical properties, such as flexural modulus and flexural yield strength, were accessed in a miniature materials tester. Water absorption of selected composite samples was evaluated after immersion of the samples in a water bath. Water absorption curves were used to calculate the water diffusion coefficient (diffusivity) of the composites. Image analysis revealed the changes in the wheat straw structure due to shear forces during processing and improvement of adhesion between matrix and filler in compositions containing coupling agent. Small changes in the percentage of crystallinity of the thermoplastic phase were observed in all composites tested. Flexural tests revealed behaviour trends for the composites tested. Water uptake appeared to be a severe problem on natural fiber composites due to color fading, dimension instability and significant weight gains. Results from this work allowed the determination of some effects of processing temperature, fiber loading and use of additives on the final properties of wheat straw- polypropylene composites, thus making contributions to the scientific work that has been realized on natural fiber composites.

Polypropylene continues to be the mainstream choice thermoplastic for automotive applications. In many applications PP is filled with mineral fillers for improvement of properties. Biobased natural fillers or fibres are attractive materials to reduce the weight because of the low specific gravity of the biobased materials compared to the mineral fillers. Our group has done extensive research on the development of wheat straw fiber in thermoplastics in the past years. It is very important to understand the behaviour of single fillers on composites before studying the effects of mixing fillers or fibers (hybridization). The objective of this study is to evaluate and compare systematically the effects of wheat straw and mineral fillers in the polypropylene matrix. The study includes two types of wheat straw (WS) categorized based on their size (fine WS and medium WS) and three different types of natural minerals (Talc, Mica and Wollastonite). Three types of polypropylene (PP), Homopolymer PP, High Impact Copolymer PP and Homopolymer-Copolymer Blend PP, were investigated as the matrix. This study also evaluates the effect of combining two fillers (WS and mineral filler) in the hybrid composite. The fillers were formulated in three different percentages (20, 30 and 40wt %) and compounded via extrusion. Samples for all formulations were prepared by injection molding. The mechanical properties (flexural modulus and strength, tensile modulus and strength, impact strength), water absorption and density were measured. The properties of hybrid composites were evaluated by varying the amounts of two fillers at 10wt%-20wt%, 15wt%-15wt% and 20wt%-10wt% each, keeping the overall filler content constant at 30wt%. The effect of type of filler, filler size and filler content were critical in this work. The results obtained from this study indicated that filler type and filler content greatly influenced the mechanical properties and water absorption characteristics of the composites. The flexural modulus increased with increasing filler content. It was interesting to observe that though the impact strength decreased with the addition of fillers, increasing the filler content from 20 to 40 wt% did not affect the property. With respect to all fillers, wollastonite improved the mechanical properties significantly. Increasing the amount of WS content reduced the composite’s resistance to water absorption. Among mineral fillers, mica showed significantly higher percentage gain in weight with water absorption. Combination of fillers at varying percentages did not have any synergy effect on the mechanical behaviour of the composite. The percentage increase in weight with water absorption was observed to be increasing with increasing WS content in hybrid composites, but significantly lower than pure WS composites. The morphological study on WS composites revealed improved interaction of filler with homopolymer and polypropylene blend.

The use of wheat straw and other agricultural by-product fibers in polymer composite materials offers many economical and environmental benefits. Wheat straw has been recently commercialized as new filler for polypropylene thermoplastic composites in automotive applications. However, to expand its application in the automotive industry and other sectors where highly-engineered materials are needed, a systematic database and reliable composite property models are needed. For this purpose, this research was systematically conducted. A product design approach is used in studying wheat straw polypropylene (WS-PP) composite. A set of thermoplastic composite specifications relevant to several automotive parts was used as a basis for the customer needs which give the direction to the entire product design of thermoplastic composites based on polypropylene and straw. Straw fibers were produced by grinding and sieving (without any other treatment). These fibers were used in the formulation of polypropylene thermoplastic composites to understand the variable that can contribute to minimize production cost, maximize product performance and maximize wheat straw utilization (fraction of renewable material). The variation in chemical composition due to plant variety (parts of the plant, location of harvesting and seasonality), the bonding incompatibility between hydrophobic polypropylene matrix and hydrophilic straw fiber, along with the heterogeneity of fiber size and shape, has made wheat straw polypropylene composite a complex system. This complexity causes the mechanistic approach of composite modeling in the well-established composite theory difficult to be applied, since modeling the contribution of natural fibers to the performance of thermoplastic composites is not as straightforward like in the case of homogenous glass fiber (with same shape, diameter and narrow length distribution). Alternatively, a statistical approach of modeling by using designed experiments was used in this research. The Mixture and Process-Mixture Experimental Design methodologies were applied to develop response surface models that can be used to correlate input properties and formulation of these thermoplastic composites to the final properties of the product. The models obtained can then be inverted to predict the required properties and formulations using fiber (straw), matrix (polypropylene), and additives (coupling agent) as the main components for a specified product performance. The prediction includes the fiber grading (size and aspect ratio) and classification in order to maximize fiber utilization for different needs of composite products. The experiments were designed based on the analysis of the existing data provided by previous research works of wheat straw polypropylene composite system in our laboratory and by experimental data generated during this research. The focus of the analysis was the determination of the factor(s), i.e., the independent variables of the experiments and their acceptable levels. The response variables being measured were chosen based on the required specifications of targeted products. A constrained three-component mixture design of experiment was conducted to develop models for flexural properties of WS-PP composite. The three independent mixture variables in this experiment were the weight proportions of: straw (as fiber), polypropylene (as matrix), and maleic anhydride polypropylene (as coupling agent). Statistical analysis results showed that the obtained models have met standard requirements of response surface models with good predictive capability. One of the important finding of this study was the formulation for optimum coupling agent proportion which gives the best flexural properties of composite. The effect of straw fiber size on composite properties was investigated by using fiber length and aspect ratio as parameters to describe fiber size, instead of the size of sieves used in fiber preparation. Two-stage separation method was applied in the straw fiber preparation process. In this method, width-based separation was followed by length-based separation to obtain fiber fractions with distinct fiber length and aspect ratio. Samples of thermoplastic composites for measurement of physical properties were produced from each fiber factions at two different levels of fiber loading. The samples were compounded by twin-screw extrusion and specimens were prepared by injection molding. The fibers were then extracted from the samples after injection molding (using solvent) and their sizes were measured to investigate the fiber size reduction during the compounding and molding process. A comprehensive analysis was then performed to study the responses of stiffness, impact resistance and specific properties of these composites by including initial fiber sizes, fiber chemical compositions (measured as cellulose, hemi-cellulose and lignin), fiber size reduction during compounding/molding process, and fiber loading as factors. One of the important contributions of this study is fiber grading in terms of their sizes and their respective contributions to the final composite product properties. Based on the previous results, a mixture design of experiment was performed on wheat straw – polypropylene / impact copolymer polypropylene (WS-PP/ICP) composite system. The objective of the experiment was to obtain response surface models that can be used to estimate some important properties required by a set of automotive product specifications. The optimum formulation of coupling agent obtained in the previous study was used to determine the fixed recipe of coupling agent; simplifying the composite system into a three-component mixture, i.e. straw (as fiber) and polypropylene (homopolymer and impact copolymer (polypropylene blend as matrix). Simulation of the models shows the superiority of using a blend of polypropylenes to balance the stiffness and impact strength of the composites and being able to reach three targeted product specifications. A case study was also performed to demonstrate that the models can be used to find optimum formulations to minimize material cost while meeting specifications of all targeted products. Finally, a framework for wheat straw polypropylene product design and development is presented in this thesis. The framework can be used for designing polypropylene-straw thermoplastic composites with various combinations of fiber - polymer matrix - additive systems with different product attributes and specifications suitable for several applications in the automotive industry.

The aim of this study was to improve the mechanical properties &ldquo / Moplen&rdquo / EP300L which is a heterophase copolymer. Polymer blends and nanocomposites were prepared by melt compounding method in a twin screw extruder. Nanofil&reg / 5 (N5) and Nanofil&reg / 8(N8) were used as the organoclays, and maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene (M) was used as the compatibilizer. The effects of additive concentrations and types of organoclays on the morphology, mechanical and thermal properties were investigated. Organoclay loading over 2 wt% prevented the intercalation mechanism resulting in large aggregates of clay, thus the material properties became poor even in the presence of compatibilizer. Compatibilizer addition improved the intercalation ability of the polymer, however a substantial increase in mechanical properties was not obtained up to 6 wt % loading of the compatibilizer. XRD analysis revealed that intercalated structures were formed with the addition of compatibilizer and organoclay. The nanocomposites that were prepared with N5 type organoclay showed delaminated structures at 6 wt % compatibilizer loading. v Nanofill &reg / 5 exhibited the highest improvements in mechanical properties, since the degree of organoclay dispersion was better in Nanofill &reg / 5 containing nanocomposites in comparison to Nanofill &reg / 8 containing ones. The DSC analysis indicated a insignificant reduction in the melting temperature of the ternary nanocomposites.