Effect of Rheology and Role of External Forces on Indigenous Melt Centrifugal Spinning of PP fibers and their Transcrystalline Composites

This paper discusses the use of polypropylene fiber as a reinforcing agent in a HDPE matrix. The PP fiber has been prepared by a Novel and Patented Melt Centrifugal Spinning Machine, developed by me. It is well known that fibers and other fillers can cause trans-crystallization in HDPE, resulting in improvement of mechanical properties. Firstly, I have proposed a force balance which helps in understanding the role of external forces on the spinning of fibers. Thereafter, the fibers have been synthesized and effects of parameters such as temperature & RPM on the morphology of the fibers have been studied. Further, composites of synthesized PP fibers with HDPE have been prepared and characterized for their mechanical property with corroboration to DSC. Also, I have attempted to make use of Ethylene – Propylene Copolymer as a compatibilizer for the PP fibers & HDPE, and have studied the effect of the addition of the same on the mechanical properties of the prepared composites.