ROTATIONAL MOLDING
F. G. Torres* and M. Aguirre
Polymers and Composites Group, Catholic University of Peru, Lima, Peru
Rotational Moulding and Powder Processing of
Natural Fibre Reinforced Thermoplastics
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The present paper describes the development of a new proces-
sing technology: rotational moulding of natural fibre rein-
forced thermoplastics. Different polymer-natural fibre and
polymer-flour systems have been characterised. A rotomould-
ing grade of high density polyethylene has been used as the
polymer matrix for the experiments. Fibres, including jute, si-
sal and cabuya, as well as wood, pecan and rice shell flour of
different types have been used as reinforcements.
The rotomoulding process for those composite systems has
been studied using an in-house built two-axis rotomoulding
rig with variable speed. The final products have been charac-
terised with special emphasis on estimating the level of disper-
sion of the fibres and their degree of orientation, as well as the
consolidation, sintering and bubble formation processes dur-
For personal use only.
ing the different stages. Comparisons have been made with
other powder processing routes, involving the sintering of fibre
(or flour) reinforced polymer particles including compression
moulding.
Morphological characterisation techniques have been
adapted to determine the structure-property relationships in
these materials at different processing stages. Important im-
provements in the compression strength of the natural fibre re-
inforced rotomoulded products compared to the unreinforced
materials, accompanied of a good dispersion level of the rein-
forcing fibres have been reported.
1 Introduction
Powder processing of thermoplastics is not a new processing
technique. Powder coating has been used for a long time with
different thermoplastic polymers. The rotomoulding of PVC
plastisols for the production of toys and balls has also been a
common procedure for many years. More recently, the rota-
tional moulding of high density polyethylene has gained con-
siderable importance, due to its proved advantages in the man-
ufacture of hollow plastic products. Rotational moulding of
plastics, or rotomoulding, starts with loading a mould with
polymer powder. Then the mould is rotated in two axes at rela-
tively low speeds (usually 10 to 30 min – 1 among industrial op-
erations) while been heated so that particle consolidation can
* Mail address: F. G. Torres, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Pon-
tificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Av. Universitaria Cdra. 18.
s/n Lima 32, Peru
204  Hanser Publishers, Munich
take part. Then the mould is cooled down and the part is ex-
tracted from it.
However, not many fundamental studies have been carried
out to understand the underlying principles that govern this
process. In that sense, powder processing of metals and cera-
mics has been the subject of more detailed studies and several
models have been proposed to explain the different types of
sintering processes that occur in industrial operations. In the
polymer field, however, there is still discussion whether sinter-
ing or coalescence are the governing processes in the roto-
moulding technique. Moreover, no consistent models have
been produced to explain the processes of multicomponent or
multiphase sintering with polymers.
The work presented here is part of a long term research pro-
ject. It studies the possibility of producing single- and multi-
layered natural fibre reinforced polymer products with the ro-
tomoulding technique.
Natural plant fibres have been used in the past as a reinfor-
cing material for different types of matrices [1, 2]. In recent
years, attention has been paid to their use as a reinforcing mate-
rial for thermoplastics. Particularly the automotive industries
have shown interest in the advantages that this type of fibre –
reinforced systems can provide [1, 2]. The advantages of biofi-
bres over traditional fibre reinforcements, such as glass fibres,
are: low cost, low density (good specific properties), reduced
wear in processing equipment, high toughness, biodegradabil-
ity, “ecological friendliness” (since they can be produced from
renewable resources).
Natural plant fibres can be classified, considering their ori-
gin, as follows: a) leaf: sisal, pineaple leaf fibre (PALF), bana-
na leaf fibre; b) bast: flax, ramie, hemp, jute; c) seed: cotton;
d) fruit: coconut, husk.
2 Sintering of Polymer Powder Particles
Powder sintering has been studied thoroughly for metals, cera-
mics and combinations of these and other materials [3]. How-
ever, not many fundamental studies have been carried out to
understand the nature of the underlying processes that take part
during the formation of a dense material when a polymer pow-
der is sintered, as occurs in the rotomoulding process. Most ex-
perimental studies are based on the original treatment proposed
by Frenkel [4] and modified by Eshelby [5]. In this case, the
driving forces of the sintering process are the viscous forces
and the surface tension. This leads to a simple equation for the
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 F. G. Torres and M. Aguirre: Rotational Moulding and Powder Processing
evolution of the neck formation:
 1=2
x tC
¼ ; ð1Þ
a ga0
where: a ¼ particle radius, a0 ¼ initial particle radius,
t ¼ sintering time, x ¼ sintering neck radius, C ¼ surface ten-
sion, g ¼ particle viscosity.
However, as Oberacker and Thummler point out [3], this and
other analytical models which attempt to describe the sintering
process, assume perfectly spherical particles, and the formation
of a rounded neck between the particles. This has been verified
International Polymer Processing downloaded from www.hanser-elibrary.com by Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan on December 8, 2015
not to be the case in real sintering process for metals and cera-
mics [3], and more recently for polymers [6, 7].
Polymer sintering as occurs in rotomoulding has been stu-
died by very few authors. The sintering behaviour and the bub-
ble formation process in rotomoulding has been studied by
Crawford et al. [8, 9]. More recently, Vlachopoulos et al. [6]
have stressed the importance of viscoelasticity in polymer sin-
tering. They suggest that sintering, as it exists in metals and
ceramics, does not take actually place with polymers, but it is
coalescence the governing mechanism in the formation of a
dense polymer bed out of heated polymer particles.
Vlachopoulos et al. have used a differential viscoelastic
model (Maxwell model) to describe the sintering process and
have proposed the following relationship, assuming a ¼ ao ,
and approximating h2 to ðx=aÞ2 [6]:
For personal use only.
 ga 2 1=2
gao gao o from multicomponent sintering in metals and ceramics. More
2 ak  2 þ ð3akÞ2 þ 4ak þ4
dðx=aÞ C C C specifically, for the latter case, they divide the processes in: so-
¼ ;
dt 2ðakÞ2
(2)
dðx=aÞ2
where dt represents an initial sintering rate, and k is the
relaxation time of the material.
Even if it may be true that all or most polymer particles are
in the molten state during rotomoulding, and that would lead
to coalescence of the polymer “droplets”, real sintering pro-
cesses in rotomoulding might be slightly more complicate,
especially if a second phase introduced. As an analogy, Torres
et al. [10] have found in thermoforming that even during what
is normally called melt phase thermoforming, solid and molten
polymer regions are encounterd during the process, leading to
localised variation in wall thickness. The reason for that is
clearly an inhomogeneous heating process, which also might
be the case for “real” rotomoulding situations. Experiments
performed under a hot stage microscope might give the impres-
sion that coalescence is the only mechanism occurring in sin-
tering. However, if some particles remain under its crystalline
melting point, then diffusional sintering as occurs with metals
and ceramics may also take place.
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Due to the irregular shape of the polymer powders used in
the experiments described here (Fig. 1.), none of these models
have been verified in the present study.
3 Powder Processing of Fibre Reinforced Polymers
The use of polymer matrices in powder form is a manufactur-
ing route that has not received much attention when employing
natural fibres as a reinforcement in composites. The only com-
mon polymer composites manufacturing techniques in which
polymer powders are formed together with fillers and reinfor-
cing fibres are compression and transfer moulding of rein-
forced thermosets. However, those processes have not been
treated as polymer sintering.
In the context of rotomoulding, not much has been reported
on the use of reinforcing fibres or filler materials, even though
it is known to the authors that some academic as well as in-
dustrial organisations have attempted to develop such pro-
cesses.
Moreover, no theoretical study has been offered yet to de-
scribe the sintering process of polymer particles in the presence
of reinforcing fibres or fillers. On the other hand, in the metals
and ceramics field, the classification of the different types of
sintering processes seems to be well established. Thümmler
and Oberacker [3] differentiate single component sintering
lid phase sintering and liquid phase sintering. They also de-
scribe the specific stages characteristic to each of these pro-
cesses, and the prevailing transport mechanisms associated to
them [3]. These mechanisms can be (for metals and ceramics):
surface diffusion, evaporation and condensation, volume diffu-
sion and grain boundary diffusion. For the discussion of this
type of sintering processes, they consider coalescence as a sec-
ondary mechanism which enforces the “coarsening” of the
structure by building up larger particles during liquid phase
sintering. For the work presented here, it is interesting to con-
sider the analysis of liquid phase sintering with the presence
of a non-soluble phase. Assuming that colaescence is the pre-
vailing mechanism in pure polymer sintering, then the sintering
of the reinforced composites that are studied here could be a si-
milar process to the one mentioned above. Liquid phase sinter-
ing for metals and ceramics has been found to occur in the pre-
sence of a permanent liquid phase or a temporary liquid phase.
In the present study, the authors present some experimental
evidence of the sintering process when a second phase is in-
cluded in a polymer particles bed.
Fig. 1. Photomicrographs (30 ×) of HDPE
powders used in the rotomoulding and com-
pression moulding experiments
Left: white natural HDPE powder, right: black
HDPE powder
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 F. G. Torres and M. Aguirre: Rotational Moulding and Powder Processing
3.1 Characterisation of Polymer Particles
The first step has been the characterisation of the HDPE pow-
ders used in the rotomoulding and compression moulding ex-
periments. Two HDPE powders, natural white and black, have
been used in the experiments. Both types were commercial
grades available to local rotomoulders. The powders MFI has
been measured using a standard Ceast MFI equipment follow-
ing ASTM D1238. The test was carried out at 190 °C and with
a load of 2.16 kg. The MFIs of the HDPE polymers were 2.8
and 2.5 for the natural white and black powders respectively.
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The morphology of the powders used in the experiments has
also been characterised using a Zeiss stereomicroscope. The
micrographs in Fig. 1 shown at a magnification of 30 ×, make
it clear that some of the polymer powders commercially avail-
able to rotomoulders are not spherical.
3.2 Characterisation of the Natural Fibres Used in the
Experiments
The morphology of the natural fibres (jute, sisal and cabuya)
used in the experiments has also been characterised in order to
understand the final structure of the moulded composites. For
that purpose a stereomicroscope (described in section 3.1.)
For personal use only.
has been used.
In all cases the natural fibres and flour (pecan and rice shell)
were treated with coupling and dispersion agents. Some preli-
minary attempts were made to process them without these
agents, however only with some of the untreated fibres, such
as sisal, good results were obtained. From the micrographs
shown in Fig. 2, a) to e) were used in the rotomoulding experi-
Fig. 2. Fibres used in the rotomoulding and compression experiments
a) sisal fibres (10 ×), b) cabuya fibres (10 ×), c) jute fibres (25 ×), d) jute fibres (10 ×), e) jute rope (10 ×), f) jute fabric (10 ×) used for the compres-
sion moulding experiments
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ments and f) was used exclusively in the compression mould-
ing experiments.
In all rotomoulding experiments the fibres were used as a
discrete reinforcements (5 to 10 mm long) blended with the
polymer powder. For the compression moulding experiments,
jute fabrics (Fig. 2f) and discrete sisal fibres (Fig. 2a) were
used.
The treatments applied to the fibres included: washing of the
fibres in an alcohol solution for 24 h, application of a disper-
sion agent (stearic acid) and drying the fibres for 24 h at 65 °C.
4 Rotational Moulding
4.1 Description of the Process and Equipment Used
A two-axis (biaxial) rotomoulding rig was used for the experi-
ments presented here (Fig. 3). Heating was achieved in a cham-
ber fitted with heat-resistant glass panels, by means of a Leister
hot air blower. Rotation in the first axis was achieved with an
electric DC motor so that speed could be varied over the pro-
cessing range. Rotation in the second axis was achieved by
means of a light weight gear box that transmitted the move-
ment from the first axis with a controlled transmission rate.
The rotating speed in the first axis was registered with a tach-
ometer.
A cylindrical stainless steel mould which can be opened in
two halves (Fig. 4) was used for producing the specimens for
the rotomoulding experiments. Before loading the polymer or
polymer composite, a demoulding agent was applied to the in-
ternal surface of the mould.
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 F. G. Torres and M. Aguirre: Rotational Moulding and Powder Processing
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Fig. 3. Rotational moulding rig used in the experiments
For personal use only.
Fig. 4. Section of the mould used in the rotomoulding experiments (a
section of the rotomoulded product is shown in the inside in lighter col-
our)
4.2 Study of the Process
The speed in the first axis was varied between 30 and 100 min – 1.
These speeds can be considered to be high for an industrial ro-
tomoulding situation, however due to the small size of the lab
rig used, this range of speeds was adequate for the experiments.
The temperature of the oven was monitored with a thermocou-
ple and during the heating process was in the range 130 to
220 °C. The samples were in all cases 30 g in weight. The per-
centage of fibres and flour was varied in the experiments be-
tween 0 and 50 %. The matrices used were HDPE in powder
form, both natural and black (with carbon black) as described
in section 3.1. All fibres and flour used have been treated as
mentioned in section 3.2. They have also been pre-dried at
65 °C for 24 h. The polymer powder and the second phase (re-
inforcing fibres or wood and shell flour) were dry blended be-
fore the rotomoulding tests with the aid of dispersion agents,
such as stearic acid. Then the blended materials were placed in-
side one half of the mould. The mould was then closed and
placed in the rotomoulding rig, and the process was started.
When introducing polymer and fibre together at the begin-
ning of the process, it was found that most of the fibres tend to
remain close to the inner surface of the moulded specimen
(see Fig. 5A). In order to obtain an adequate fibre distribution
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Fig. 5. A) Single layer natural fibre reinforced rotomoulded specimen
showing most of the fibres close to the specimen inner surface, B) Dou-
ble layer natural fibre reinforced rotomoulded specimen showing good
fibre distribution across the specimen thickness
in the thickness of the rotationally moulded specimen, it was
necessary to produce a second layer of unreinforced polymer
that covers and sinters on the inner specimen surface (Fig. 5B).
In this way the fibres ended up well distributed across the spe-
cimens thickness.
Another way of introducing the discrete fibres into the pro-
cess is by adding them continuously during the process. This
was achieved by means of a coupling to the mould that allowed
the dosage of fibres during the entire process. However in any
case, it was necessary to end up adding a final unreinforced
polymer layer in order to produce a smooth inner surface. It is
well known that multilayer rotomoulding is a standard practice
in industry, however more studies are needed in order to deter-
mine the optimal way of adding the fibres to the composite in
an industrial type machine.
4.3 Characterisation of the Rotomoulded Composites
The external appearance of the rotomoulded composites
showed a high variation depending on the type and content of
the reinforcing fibres used in each case. Some of the reinforced
specimens moulded are shown in Fig. 6. The composite ob-
tained with HDPE and rice shell flour was particularly interest-
ing due to its paper-like aspect. However, its mechanical prop-
erties were not among the best of the composite systems
studied.
Fibre dispersion is a key issue, since it strongly influences
the reinforcement efficiency in discrete fibre composites. As
can be observed from Fig. 7a an extremely good level of dis-
persion can be achieved by the rotomoulding process of HDPE
and treated sisal fibres. It is also important to note that the fibre
mat structure apperas to be quasi-isotropic, which is a desirable
property in this type of products.
The internal and external surfaces of the rotomoulded speci-
mens have been studied using a Zeiss stereomicroscope with
external incidental light. The internal surface of one of the
walls of the single layered cylindrical specimens is shown in
Fig. 8. As can be seen from the figure, many fibres stick out
of the surface, and only a portion of the reinforcing fibres are
embedded in the polymer matrix, contributing to the reinforce-
ment of the matrix. This supports the idea of producing multi-
layered rotomoulded articles, in which a pure polymer internal
layer is deposited and sintered on top of the existing polymer –
fibre bed, to produce a good internal finish and ensure a full re-
inforcing effect of the fibres.
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 F. G. Torres and M. Aguirre: Rotational Moulding and Powder Processing

Fig. 6. Rotomoulded specimens: a) natural

HDPE, b) black HDPE, c) natural HDPE with
30 % w/w pecan shell flour, d) natural HDPE
with 30 % w/w sisal fibres, e) natural HDPE
with 50 % w/w rice shell flour
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Fig. 7. Dispersion of the second phase in the

rotomoulded specimens
a) natural HDPE with 30 % w/w sisal fibres;
b) natural HDPE with 50 %w/w rice shell flour

Fig. 9. shows a micrograph of the external surface of one of density of the polymer bed (evaluated qualitatively – using
the two parallel flat areas in the specimens (see Fig. 6). The con- stereomicroscopy – by the void content) was lower than that
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centric circles shown in the picture correspond to the machining
traces on the steel mould surface replicated by the polymer when
in contact with the mould. A good level of fibre dispersion below
the surface can be appreciated in the figure. A quasi-isotropic fi-
bre orientation can also be observed in this case.
In Fig. 10. it is possible to observe the appearance of bubbles
in the polymer matrix. This corresponds to a high heating/sinter-
ing time (20 min). Fibre degradation was also observed in this
specimen. In all cases, the sintering times had been long enough
for achieving almost full density. No porous structures were ob-
served under the microscope for the specimens shown in Figs. 7,
8 and 9. The bubbles appearing in Fig. 10 are not pores remain-
ing from an unfinished sintering process, considering that the
specimen in Fig. 10 had the longest sintering time of all.
In all cases the polymer matrices in the rotomoulded compo-
sites displayed the same characteristics of the polymer in the
unreinforced mouldings. This was particularly true, for the
pre-treated fibre reinforced composites with weight contents
under 15 %. In the case of the flour-filled composites, the final
found in the fibre reinforced composites. Moreover, a more
porous structure was found in the flour-filled materials. In gen-
eral, the overall sintering behaviour of the polymer matrices
used in the experiments, as observed under the microscope, ap-
peared to be very similar to that of the unreinforced polymers.
In fact, similar sintering times were determined when using
equal amounts of materials, in both cases, reinforced and un-
reinforced. Therefore from this study it cannot be determined
whether the presence of a second phase has a significant effect
in the sintering behaviour of a multiphase polymer system.
The mechanical properties of the rotomoulded cylinders
were characterised in the compression mode. The samples
were placed in an Instron hydraulic universal testing machine
and compressed in a similar way to plastic pipes (Fig. 11).
The crosshead speed was 1.3 mm/min. The recorded maximum
forces for the different materials are presented in Table 1. Good
replicability was found in all cases.
As can be seen in Table 1, in all cases the reinforced mould-
ings show higher compression forces than the unreinforced

Fig. 8. Micrograph of the inner surface of a
rotomoulded specimen showing good fibre
dispersion with fibres sticking out of the poly-
mer matrix (15 ×)
Fig. 9. Micrograph of the outer surface of a
rotomoulded specimen showing good fibre
dispersion in the polymer bed. The concentric
circles are the machining tracks replicated
from the mould surface (15 ×)
Fig. 10. Micrograph of the outer surface of a
rotomoulded specimen showing bubbles. The
concentric circles are machining tracks repli-
cated from the mould surface (15 ×)

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 F. G. Torres and M. Aguirre: Rotational Moulding and Powder Processing
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Fig. 11. Compression testing of the rotomoulded products
HDPE. Particularly, the combination of HDPE with 10 % of
dry sisal, with the use of a dispersion agent (stearic acid) which
enhances the fibre dispersion in the matrix, shows the highest
compression force (1000 N). This corresponds to an improve-
ment of 53 % of the compression force of the unreinforced
polymer.
It was also interesting to observe that the fibre reinforced roto-
moulded specimens showed a good degree of recovery after the
compression tests, whereas, on the other hand, the unreinforced
polymer specimens showed permanent deformations. This may
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indicate that a great part of the energy absorbed by the fibre rein-
forced specimen is actually stored elastically by the reinforcing
mat structure. This is in agreement with results obtained for dis-
crete long glass fibre (LGF) composites reported by Torres et al.
for the thermoforming process [10 to 12].
The weight variation in the specimens has been measured
after rotomoulding. As can be seen in Table 2, a considerable
weight loss has been found when using sisal fibres without
pre-drying. When using dry fibres a weight gain of 1.6 % has
been recorded, thus indicating that the composite moulding is
taking up moisture from the environment after processing. As
can be inferred from the results, weight measurements with
natural fibre reinforced polymers can be complicated due the
hydrophilic nature of the fibres.
5 Compression Moulding
For comparison purposes, compression moulding experiments
have been performed. The same polymer powders as in the ro-
tomouding experiments have been used. Two different types
of reinforcements have been used: chopped sisal fibres (5 to
Reinforcing fibre Fibre content Max.
w/w force
% N
Sisal (no pre-drying) 10 810
Sisal (dry) 15 700
Sisal (dry) + Stearic acid 10 1000
Rice shell flour 5 680
Unreinforced HDPE 0 650
Table 1. Maximum force recorded in the compression test
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Reinforcing fibre Fibre content Weight
w/w variation
% %
Sisal (no pre-drying) 10 – 5.7
Sisal (dry) 15 1.67
Sisal (dry) + Stearic acid 10 0.73
Rice shell flour 5 0.63
Unreinforced HDPE 0 1.03
Table 2. Weight variation measured after processing
10 mm) and woven jute fabric. In the case of the fabric rein-
forced composites, only one layer of fabric was placed between
two layers of HDPE natural powder. For the discrete fibre rein-
forced composites, the chopped fibres were placed by hand on
top of one layer of polymer powder and then covered by a sec-
ond layer of the same powder.
A manual lab press equipped with independent temperature
controllers for each platen has been used for the experiments
(Fig. 12). Unreinforced and composite plates were produced
with a simple male-female mould. The moulding temperature
was 180 °C.
The specimens produced by compression moulding were ex-
amined using stereomicroscopy. Fig. 13 shows the cross sec-
tion of a fabric reinforced compression moulded specimen
using a jute fabric as a reinforcement. The polymer matrix
was found to be well consolidated and approaching full density,
showing a similar sintering behaviour to the compressed un-
reinforced polymer powders. The fabric was however only im-
pregnated superficially.
Fig. 14 shows the cross section of a discrete fibre reinforced
compression moulded specimen containing sisal fibres. The
polymer also seemed well consolidated. The fibre dispersion
was limited compared to the rotomoulding process and the
same was valid for the fibre orientation. This is due to the re-
stricted flow and movement of the fibres that takes part in the
compression moulding process compared to the rotomoulding
process. In the rotomoulding process the fibres are organised
during the entire consolidation process, which allows for a bet-
ter fibre distribution and a more controlled fibre orientation.
Since the rotation used in these experiments was biaxial, fibre
orientation tends to be quasi-random.
6 Conclusions
It has been shown from the present studies, that it is possible to
produce discrete natural fibre reinforced rotomoulded products
showing a good level of fibre dispersion. These composites
show good mechanical properties (as verified by compression
tests) with regard to the unreinforced polymers. Moreover, the
fibre mats tend to be quite stable under large deformations
and allow for a considerable recovery of the deformation. The
levels of fibre dispersion obtained when pre-treating the fibres
were very good for this type of discrete reinforced materials.
In addition, the fibre orientation in the mats corresponds to a
quasi – isotropic structure. The examination of the inner sur-
face of the single-layered rotomoulded specimens shows that
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 F. G. Torres and M. Aguirre: Rotational Moulding and Powder Processing
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Fig. 12. Lab press used in the compression moulding experiments
a large proportion of the fibres stick out of the polymer matrix.
This decreases the reinforcing efficiency of the fibres and gives
a rough internal finish. In order to obtain an optimal reinforce-
ment efficiency and a good internal surface finish, an extra in-
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ner layer of pure polymer has to be sintered on top of the exist-
ing surface. This is a standard procedure in some industrial
rotomoulding operations.
The microscopical study of the polymer matrix in the roto-
moulded composites showed similar results to those found in
the unreinforced mouldings. This gives preliminary indications
that the second phase does not affect the sintering behaviour of
the polymer bed, although further studies are needed in order to
confirm this.
Compression moulding experiments have shown that the
sintering behaviour of natural fibre reinforced polymer systems
appears to be very similar to the one taking place during the
compression of unreinforced polymer powders. However the
impregnation levels of the fibres (using a fibre mat) and the dis-
persion levels of the fibres (with discrete reinforcement) were
not as good as in the rotomoulding process described here.
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Fig. 13. Cross section of a textile reinforced compression moulded
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Fig. 14. Cross section of a discrete reinforced compression moulded
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Acknowledgements
The authors wish to acknowledge the economic support re-
ceived from the Rectorate and the Direction of Research of
the Catholic University of Peru (PUCP) and wish to thank the
Institute of Corrosion and Protection of the PUCP for the use
of their microscopy facilities.
Date received: January 7, 2003
Date accepted: February 13, 2003
Intern. Polymer Processing XVIII (2003) 2