Fabrication and investigation of the mechanical properties of PVC/carbon fiber/graphene nanocomposite pipes for oil and gas applications

This article presents a novel plastic injection molding method for industrial manufacturing of polyvinyl chloride/carbon fiber/graphene (PVC/CF/Gr) nanocomposite pipes. In this method, the reprocessing cycles in the screw cylinder barrel and the fiber (embedded as the material) passes through the extruder lead to enhance Gr dispersion and orientation within the matrix. The mechanical properties of the manufactured nanocomposite pipes are evaluated through three standard tests, namely axial tension, axial compression, and transverse compression. From the experimental results, it is concluded that the second reprocessed PVC/CF/Gr composite demonstrates superior mechanical properties in comparison with the virgin composites. The results indicate an increase of 179% and 154% for Young's modulus, along with an ultimate tensile strength at 2-wt% Gr with two reprocessing iterations in the cylinder barrel, respectively. Improvement in the mechanical properties of the PVC/CF/Gr composite produced by melt reprocessing could be due to strong interfacial interactions between the polymer matrix and the fibers.