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Rotational Molding of Polymer Composites Reinforced with Natural Fibers

Article  in  Plastics Engineering -Connecticut- · July 2015

DOI: 10.1002/j.1941-9635.2015.tb01960.x

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Rotational Molding of Polymer Composites
Reinforced with Natural Fibers
This review article reveals some efforts towards making
rotomoldings tougher and more sustainable

By Fatima Ezzahra Hanana and Denis Rodrigue

Department of Chemical Engineering and Centre de Recherche Sur les Matériaux Avancés (CERMA)
Université Laval, Quebec, Canada

R Rotomolding: The Basics

otational molding, also called rotomolding or roto-
casting, is a technique to produce hollow parts without
weld-lines. The main advantages of rotational mold-
ing are related to the fact that part design is virtually
unlimited, with the possibility to produce complex shapes
with a wide range of sizes. Other advantages include the low
cost of the molds and no pressure applied on the materials,
leading to stress-free parts. It’s also possible to control part
thickness by the amount of material loaded, the biaxial rota-
tional speed, and mold thickness. However, rotational
molding has some drawbacks, and the most important one
is long processing time (around 45-60 min.).1-3
Rotational molding consists of four main steps. The process
begins by charging a mold with a predetermined quantity of
materials (powders, micropellets, or viscous liquids). Then the
mold is closed and introduced into an oven controlled at high
temperatures (200-400°C). Inside the oven, the mold rotates
around two perpendicular axes where the velocity in each
direction is carefully controlled (at 1-6 rpm). After the mate-
rial is completely melted and sintered (a heating step), the
mold is removed from the oven to be cooled with water mist
(phase change cooling), blown air (forced convection cooling),

Figure 1: Rotomolded LLDPE composites with 10 wt% natural fibers: flax (left), maple (middle), and hemp (right).

28 | PLASTICS ENGINEERING | JULY / AUGUST 2015 | www.4spe.org | www.plasticsengineering.org

or a combination of both. When the cooling step is finished, because of their high specific strength and high specific
the parts are demolded and a new cycle begins.4 modulus (properties per unit weight), low cost, and envi-
Polyvinyl chloride was the first polymer used for rota- ronmental friendliness.9-10 Nevertheless, poor fiber-matrix
tional molding, and the main applications were door panels, adhesion, lower strength (especially impact strength), and
dashboards, and toys. By the late 1950s, polyethylene pow- poor moisture resistance leading to fiber swelling (and
der was introduced for rotational molding applications.2,4 dimensional stability problems) have limited large-scale pro-
Today, different grades of polyethylene (LLDPE, LDPE, LMDPE, duction.11
MDPE, HDPE, etc.) represent about 85-90% of all the polymers In rotational molding, several natural fibers have been
processed by rotational molding. The popularity of poly- selected, such as wood (hardwood and softwood), flax,
ethylene is based on its good resistance to processing times agave, sisal, and maple. For example, Figure 1 compares
and temperatures and its low cost. Nevertheless, other poly- rotomolded composites with various types of natural fibers
mers like polypropylene, nylon, and
polycarbonate are used for different
applications like fuel tanks, storage con-
tainers, engine covers, light casings, and
more.2,5
In North America, the rotomolding
business has grown by about 7.2% per
year between 2009 and 2014.6 Rotation-
al molding is currently used in several
industries, such as automotive (ducting,
fuel tanks, wheel arches, etc.), marine
(kayaks, dock floats, leisure craft/boats,
etc.), medical, agricultural/garden equip-
ment, and for general purposes (tool
boxes, containers, toys, etc.).4
In recent years, increasing interest was
developed in rotomolded composite parts
to improve mechanical properties, reduce
costs, and control aesthetics. With increas-
ing environmental awareness and
scientific investigations (for process opti-
mization), more producers are looking
at natural fibers, mainly lignocellulosic
materials. Some of the work recently per-
formed on the production of rotomolded
composite materials reinforced with nat-
ural fibers is presented below.

Rotomolding of Natural
Fiber Composites
Composite materials are composed of
two or more constituents with different
characteristics and in various forms,
which result in better properties com-
pared to each material taken alone.7 In
North America, the composite materials
world market is expected to increase
from $7.4 billion in 2013 to an estimated
$11.3 billion in 2019.8
Of all the different types of reinforce-
ment available, natural fibers have
attracted the attention of scientists

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Rotational Molding of Polymer Composites ________________________
Figure 2: Typical examples of rotomolded composite
automotive parts.
(maple, flax, and hemp). All the samples were molded under
the same conditions with a concentration of 10 wt%. Con-
centrations up to 30 wt% have been produced, and even
higher concentrations are being investigated.
As reported earlier, the most important commercial appli-
cation of rotomolding is automotive, and Figure 2 presents
typical examples of the parts studied. In all cases, the final
texture and color of the part depend on the type and sizes
of the fibers used, as well as their concentration.
The rotomolding of natural fiber composites is actually
quite easy, as most of the time a simple dry-blending method
can be used to introduce the fibers into the matrix in a
powder form. From this technique, several recent works
have been published. For example, Raymond and Rodrigue12
studied the effect of maple wood flour in different concen-
trations (0-25 wt%) and particle sizes (125-250 microns) on
the properties of rotomolded LLDPE. In addition, with fiber
surface treatments (alkali treatment with NaOH and maleat-
ed polyethylene (MAPE)), mechanical properties were
improved (35% for flexural modulus), and it was also possi-
ble to introduce up to 25 wt% of fibers.13
Also, López-Bañuelos et al.14 investigated the effect of
agave fibers on LMDPE, while Wang et al.15 studied the
30 | PLASTICS ENGINEERING | JULY / AUGUST 2015 | www.4spe.org | www.plasticsengineering.org
influence of various fiber treatments (benzoylation, silane,
peroxide) and their reinforcing effects on different matrices
(LLDPE, HDPE, LLDPE, and HDPE) for compounds prepared
by twin-screw extrusion. Jayaraman et al.16 investigated the
effect of sisal fibers to reinforce LMDPE, while Ortega et
al.17 studied the effect of banana and abaca fibers to rein-
force metallocene polyethylene.
The influence of MAPE and vinyltrimethoxysilane treatment
on the mechanical properties of oil palm empty fruit bunch-
filled HDPE composites was reported by Rahmat et al.18
McDowell et al.19 studied the effect of wood flour and wood
fibers on polyethylene powder via dry-blending.
Finally, Rodrigue et al.20 made a comparison between dif-
ferent processing techniques (compression molding and
rotational molding) and blending methods (melt and dry) on
the properties of LMDPE reinforced with wood particles
(sawdust residues from wood processing).
Conclusion
An introduction to the use of natural fibers to reinforce poly-
mers in rotational molding was presented. Based on the
results from different studies, these biocomposites can be pro-
duced and present good mechanical and aesthetic properties.
Nevertheless, more work is needed to improve on these
results. For example, different types and methods for fiber
surface treatment are being investigated to increase tensile
strength and tensile moduli.
Despite the growing number of researches aiming at man-
ufacturing composite materials based on natural fibers via
various processes (injection molding, compression mold-
ing, etc.), very few attempts have been made to produce
these composites by rotational molding. This is even more
the case for polymers other than polyethylene.
References
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