Rubber toughened glass fibre reinforced high impact polystyrene

This study aimed to investigate the effect of combining reinforcement agents (i.e. glass fibres) and rubber particles (ethylene-propylene grafted maleic anhydride, EP-g-MA) on the properties of high impact polystyrene (HIPS). HIPS was melt blended and compounded with EP-g-MA and glass fibres at a total weight percentage of both constituents ranging from 0 to 10 wt-%. HIPS content was kept fixed in all prepared samples of 90 wt-%. Samples for testing were prepared in accordance with ASTM 265D and ASTM D 1708 for Izod impact strength and tensile strength, respectively. It was shown that the toughness of HIPS could be significantly enhanced by proper combination of EP-g-MA and glass fibres. Composites with EP-g-MA content greater than 7 wt-% and glass fibre content of 3 wt-% had izod impact strength values greater than 99 J m(-1) which reflects 11-77% enhancement over those value for neat HIPS and HIPS reinforced with 10 wt-% glass fibres .