INFLUENCE OF INCORPORATION OF AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY INTERNAL COMPONENT CAPS ON THE THERMAL PROPERTIES OF COMPOUNDS FOR CAR BUMPERS

Abstract

Over the years, automotive safety and energy efficiency have forced the auto industry to seek innovations and technological solutions to comply with regulations. Industries can seek solutions in their unique processes for waste that are reintegrated into the production cycle, for the manufacture of new components, generating resource savings and adding environmental value. In this sense, the present study aims to evaluate the influence of the incorporation of the polypropylene (PP) residue produced in the automotive industry on the thermal conditions of the raw material used by the injection of car bumpers (polypropylene with ethylene-propylene-diene monomer (PP / EPDM) )). It was performed the injection of PP / EPDM / load compounds with two different contents of recycled material (0 and 30%) in their compositions, to be used in the HDT test. DSC and TGA tests of PP residues, virgin bumper compounds (PP / EPDM) and samples with 30% residues in the composition were also performed for comparative analysis. The results of the tests showed that the addition of the polypropylene residue to the PP / EPDM / load compound made the material more susceptible to temperature when subjected to mechanical stress; it increased its initial temperature of decomposition and its loss of mass, decreasing its ash content, for having a reduced amount of talc in its composition; the melting enthalpy of the material was increased and its melting temperature was equal to PP caps, showing the influence of the crystallinity of the residue on the final material.