Co-authors​ :

 Danijela STANKOVIC (UNITED KINGDOM), James R DAVIDSON (UNITED KINGDOM), Kit O'ROURKE (UNITED KINGDOM), Dipa RAY  

Environmental factors such as extreme wind, heavy rainfall, and hailstorms, or a combination thereof, carry debris that can inflict severe damage to roofs or building facades. Typically, this type of damage manifests as dents on the exterior surface of a structure, ranging from minor to extensive based on the intensity of the event. As a consequence, it is common practice to conduct impact tests on specimens designed for hurricane-resistant components. This study delves into the utilisation of high-quality composites, produced by blending waste fibres (glass and/or carbon fibres) with waste mixed plastics (thermoplastics), creating a sustainable alternative material system for hurricane-resistant members. Impact tests, simulating storm conditions, were carried out using a gas gun which fired a (8mm diameter) projectiles at different speeds on five different types of specimens (for comparison) and their ballistic limits were determined. The specimens were extracted from clear polycarbonate sheets, certified plywood sheathing sheets, waste mixed plastics (wMP) reinforced with waste glass fibres (wGF) in the form of laminates, waste mixed plastics with both waste glass fibre and recycled carbon fibre (rCF) in the form of (hybrid) laminates, and a sandwich laminate in which the skin was made of waste mixed plastics and waste glass fibre while the core was a cross-linked low density polyethylene (PE) foam. The plywood sheets acted as the benchmark specimen. The ballistic limit, defined as the velocity at which 50% of the attacks perforate and 50% are stopped by the attacked specimen, was established through a minimum of six attacks per specimen type. The results indicated that waste glass fibre/waste mixed plastics specimens, as well as hybrid specimens, successfully withstood wind debris at speeds (between 103 m/s and 125 m/s) significantly surpassing the recommended speeds of the Australian and New Zealand (AS/NZS1170.2) guidelines. The highest speeds were recorded for the polycarbonate specimens. Furthermore, test results demonstrated that these novel materials performed well when compared to globally used plywood (especially the hybrid and waste glass fibre/waste mixed plastics specimens). These findings highlight the potential of utilising waste materials for hurricane-resistant members, such as roofs or cyclonic shelters, offering a sustainable and viable solution with the added benefit of reusability at the end of a structural element’s life.