research article effect of filler loading on...

Research ArticleEffect of Filler Loading on Mechanical and TribologicalProperties of Wood Apple Shell Reinforced Epoxy Composite

Ojha Shakuntala1 Gujjala Raghavendra2 and Acharya Samir Kumar1

1 Department of Mechanical Engineering NIT Rourkela Odisha 769008 India2Department of Mechanical Engineering NIT Warangal 506004 Andhra Pradesh India

Correspondence should be addressed to Ojha Shakuntala shaku30gmailcom

Received 30 May 2013 Revised 20 November 2013 Accepted 11 December 2013 Published 4 February 2014

Academic Editor Markku Leskela

Copyright copy 2014 Ojha Shakuntala et al This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons AttributionLicense which permits unrestricted use distribution and reproduction in any medium provided the original work is properlycited

During the last century natural fibers and particulates are used as reinforcement in polymer composite that has been continuouslygrowing in the composite industryThis polymermatrix composite haswide range of applications in hostile environmentwhere theyare exposed to external attacks such as solid particle erosion Also the mechanical properties of different polymer composites showthe best alternate to replace the metal material In the present investigation an attempt has been made to improve the mechanicaland tribological behaviour of polymer matrix composite using wood apple shell particles as a filler material in polymer matrixAlso the temperature variation of the dynamic-mechanical parameters of epoxy matrix composites incorporated with 5 10 15 and20wt of wood apple shell particles was investigated by DMA test It is clearly observed that the incorporation of wood apple shellparticles tends to increase the tensile strength flexural strength erosive wear resistance and viscoelastic stiffness of the polymercomposite To validate the results SEM of the polymer matrix composite has been studied

1 Introduction

Bio and industrial waste are finding increased applicationunder different conditions in which they may be utilised asvalue-added products Many scientists are looking for newand alternative materials due to the paucity of metals Theirsurvey reveals that natural waste products have the potentialto replace the conventional materials These natural wasteproducts include banana bamboo coconut shell oil palmshell jute rice husk and henequen which are attractive dueto their low cost easy fabrication high strength to weightratio better thermal and insulating properties renewablecompletely or partially recyclable and biodegradable [1ndash4]Due to the reinforcement of natural filler materials in thematrix composite increase the modulus decrease the ductil-ity of the matrix and also reduce the cost of the compositesNatural filler polymer composites offers better applicationin the fields of mechanical tribological and industial whencompared to synthetic material composites [5 6]

Many investigations have been made by the researcherson the potential of the natural fillers as reinforcements for

composites Bujang et al [7] have determined the mechan-ical properties and dynamic characteristics of a proposedcombined polymer composite which consist of a polyestermatrix and coconut fibres (also known as coir fibres) AbdulKhalil et al [8] studied the behaviour of the epoxy compositewhen filled with biobased fillers like bamboo stems coconutshells and oil palm fiber bunch Fu et al [9] have studiedthe flexural properties of misaligned short fiber reinforcedpolymers by taking into account the effects of fiber lengthand fiber orientation Tensile and flexural behaviour ofpineapple leaf fiber-polypropylene composites as a functionof volume fraction were investigated The tensile modulusand tensile strength of the composites were found to beincreasing with fiber content in accordance with the rule ofmixtures [10] Mwaikambo and Bisanda [11] reported thatfor polyestercotton fabric composites the tensile strengthof the composites decreased with increasing content of thecotton fabric possibly because the void content increaseswith increasing fabric volume fraction [12] Margem et alconducted experiments to find out the mechanical strengthof ramie fiber and also investigated the temperature variation

Hindawi Publishing CorporationAdvances in Materials Science and EngineeringVolume 2014 Article ID 538651 9 pageshttpdxdoiorg1011552014538651

2 Advances in Materials Science and Engineering

resistance of composites along with epoxy in DMA analysisGang Sui [14] fabricated an epoxy composite using Cancunnatural hydrophobic sand particle as filler material andfound through dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) thatthe storage modulus and glass transition temperature of thesand particlesepoxy composites were increased comparedto the pristine epoxy There are some possibilities wherethe composite may encounter impacts of materials like sandand slurry of solid particles so consequently the materialmay failed due to erosion wear [15] The erosion wear ofreinforced polymer composite is usually higher than unre-inforced polymer matrix [16] Rajesh et al [17] selected aseries of polyamides for investigating the effects of chemicalstructure and hence mechanical properties on erosive wearbehaviour by impinging silica sand particles at various anglesand doses The results indicated that the influence of velocityimpact on erosion rate was more dramatic at an obliqueimpact angle (30∘) than at normal impact angle (90∘)

Numerous research works are carried out on variousfiller materials that can give good dispersion and interfacialadhesion between the filler and polymer matrices In thiswork we fabricated an epoxy composite using a new naturalfiller material that is wood apple shell particulate becauseparticulate reinforced polymer composites are very attractivedue to the ease of manufacturing and mould ability Anusha[18] usedwood apple shell particulates as an absorbent for theremoval of iron from waste water Ahmad and Kumar [19]also studied the adsorptive removal of Congo red dye fromaqueous solution using bael shell carbon

Wood apple (Aegle marmelos) that belongs to familyRutaceae is a highly reputedmedicinal tree commonly knownas bael shown in Figure 1 It is an indigenous fruit of IndiaIt is grown throughout Southeast Asian countries like IndiaSri Lanka Pakistan Bangladesh Burma and Thailand Thepeel of the fruit which is very hard shell and green tobrown in colour depends on ripening stageWood apple shellmainly consists of carbohydrate component such as cellulosehemicellulose and lignin

The main aim of this research was to investigate theinfluence of wood apple shell particles on mechanical andtribological properties of epoxy composites and also studythe temperature variation of the dynamic-mechanical param-eters such as storage modulus and loss modulus of epoxymatrix composites incorporated with wood apple shell par-ticles by DMA tests

2 Materials and Methods

21 Particulate Preparation The wood apple shell (WAS)used in this study is washed several times with distilledwater to remove the impurities and waste The shell materialwas dried at 110∘C for 48 h in an oven to remove excesswater content and moisture After drying the raw materialswere crushed into small pieces with the help of a crusherAfter crushing the small pieces of shell materials and finallyconverted into fine granular size particles by ballmill for 48 hThe particle size used in this experiment was 212-1 120583m TheSEM of the particle size is shown in Figure 2

Wood apple fruit

Wood apple shell

Figure 1 Wood apple shell

Particles

100120583m

45120583m

Figure 2 Wood apple shell particles

Table 1 Proximate analysis ( by mass) of wood apple shellparticles

Sample Wood apple shellFixed carbon 1921Moisture 66Ash 085Volatile 7334

22 Raw Material Analysis Proximate analysis is one ofthe most important characterization methods to analyse thebiofiller It consists of determiningmoisture ash volatilemat-ter and fixed carbon contents of the biomass The proximateanalysis of wood apple shell particles is presented in Table 1

The ultimate analysis of a sample determines the elemen-tal compositions (carbon (C) hydrogen (H) nitrogen (N)and sulphur (S) contents) of the sample which is presentedin Table 2 It is based on the principle of Dumas methodwhich involves the complete and instantaneous oxidation ofthe sample by flash combustion An ultimate analyzer (CHN-932 Leco) was used for analyzing the chemical compositionof wood apple shell particulates The chemical compositionof wood apple shell particles is presented in Table 3

23 Composite Fabrication A wooden mold of 150 times 60 times5mm3 is used for manufacturing the composite A moldrelease spray was applied at the inner surface of the moldfor quick and easy release of the composite The wood apple

Advances in Materials Science and Engineering 3

Table 2 Ultimate analysis of wood apple shell particles

Sample Wood apple shellC 5259H 6355N 034S 000

Table 3 Chemical composition of wood apple shell particles

Sample Wood apple shellCellulose 3954Hemicellulose 2606Lignin 2986Ash 09

shell particulate composites were prepared by hand layuptechnique Five different types of composites are preparedwith varying weight fractions (0 5 10 15 and 20wt) ofparticles and epoxy

Epoxy LY 556 (bisphenol-A-diglycidyl-ether) is used inthe present studies chemically belonging to the ldquoepoxiderdquofamily is used as the matrix material The epoxy resin andthe hardener are supplied by Ciba Geigy India Ltd

Ten percentage of hardener HY951 is mixed in the resinearlier to reinforcement A proper stirring is done withmechanical stirrer for uniform mixing of particulates Thenthe mixture of particulate and epoxy along with hardenerwas poured into the mould and after few minutes 30 kg ofload is applied on the composite for 24 h for better increaseof strength Due to applying of load some amount of thepolymer may squeezed out from the mould for this care hastaken to ensure no polymer may squeeze out from mouldWhen the composite was hardened it was removed from themould and cut with a diamond cutter according to ASTMstandard for different tests

24 Density and Void Fraction In terms of weight fractionthe theoretical density of the composite materials can becalculated using Agarwal and Broutman [17] equation

120588ct =1

(119882119891120588119891) + (119882

119898120588119898) (1)

where ldquo119882rdquo and ldquo120588rdquo represent the weight fraction and densityrespectively The suffixes ldquo119891rdquo ldquo119898rdquo and ldquoctrdquo stand for thefiber matrix and theoretical density of composite materialsrespectively According to present study the composite con-sists of matrix and particulate filler Hence the modified formof above expression for the density of the composite can bewritten as

120588ct =1

(119882119898120588119898) + (119882

119901120588119901) (2)

where the suffix ldquo119901rdquo represents the particulate filler materials

Table 4 Density and void contain of wood apple shell

offiller

Actual density(gcc)

Theoretical density(gcc)

Volume fractionof voids ()

Epoxy 11800 12 1665 11799 1193 10610 11755 1185 08315 11725 1178 04820 118 1171 076

However the actual density of the composite materials interms of weight fraction is determined experimentally by (3)and (4) using Archimedesrsquo principle

119878ct =1198820

(1198820) + (119882

119886minus119882119887) (3)

where ldquo119878rdquo indicates the specific gravity of the composite andldquo1198820rdquo ldquo119882119886rdquo and ldquo119882

119887rdquo represent the weight of the sample

weight of the bottle + kerosene and weight of the bottle +kerosene+ sample Hence the actual density of the compositematerials can be obtained using the following equation (4)The actual and the theoretical density are given in Table 4

Consider

120588ca = 119878ct times 120588119896 (4)

The volume fraction of voids (119881V) in the composite iscalculated by

119881V =120588ct minus 120588ca120588ct (5)

where ldquo120588rdquo represents the density of the composite Thesuffixes ldquoctrdquo and ldquocardquo stand for the theoretical and actualdensity of the composite materials The volume fraction ofvoids present in the composite is shown in Table 4

25 Tensile Test The tensile tests are conducted according tothe ASTM D638-99 standard The dumbbell-shaped samplesfor tensile test are cut with a circular diamond blade Thetensile specimen is placed in the testing machine and a carehas to be taken taken when aligning the longitudinal axis ofthe specimen Servohydraulic controlled INSTRON H10KSdynamic material testing system is used for tensile testing

26 Flexural Test In order to determine the flexural proper-ties of the composites a three-point bending test is carried outaccording to D790-99 standard Bending property of woodcomposite is very necessary for structural application to avoidfailureThe rectangular samples for bend test are cut by usingdiamond cutter and followed by grindingThe span of 70mmand a crosshead speed used for the flexural tests (three-pointbending) is 5mmmin The machine is designed to elongatethe specimen at a constant rate and to continuously andsimultaneously measure the instantaneous applied load and


the resulting elongations using an extensometer The flexuralstrength was calculated by the formula

120590max =(3119875max119871)

1198871199052 (6)

where ldquo119875maxrdquo is the maximum load at failure (N) ldquo119871rdquo is thespan (mm) and ldquo119887rdquo and ldquo119905rdquo are the width and thickness of thespecimen (mm) respectively

27 Interlaminar Shear Strength (ILSS) The value of inter-laminar shear strength (ILSS) was found out by using shortbeam shear test method as per the ASTM standard D 2344-84 Load is applied at the rate of 13mmmin The forceapplied at the time of failure was recorded and the stresseswere determined using

SH =(075119875

119861)

119887ℎ (7)

where SH is interlaminar shear strength (Nmm2) ldquo119875119861rdquo is the

breaking load (N) and ldquo119887rdquo and ldquoℎrdquo are width and depth of thespecimen (mm) Span to depth ratio of 5 1 was selected forthe test A minimum of five samples of each type were testedand the average ILSS values were determined

28 Dynamic Mechanical Test Dynamic mechanical analysis(DMA) is a powerful technique to investigate thermal andmechanical properties of polymers The specimens generallydeform sinusoidally in response to an applied oscillatingforce The resultant strain in specimen due to the sinusoidalload depends upon both elastic and viscous behavior of thespecimen In this study the storage modulus (1198641015840) and the lossmodulus (11986410158401015840) of neat epoxy and composites were determinedby DMA The storage modulus (or elastic modulus) reflectsthe elastic modulus of the composites which measures therecoverable strain energy in a deformed specimen and theloss modulus (or viscous modulus) is related to the energylost due to energy dissipation as heat DMA was run inthe dual cantilever bending mode The temperature intervalwas from room temperature about 25∘C to 200∘C with aheating rate of 15∘Cmin and using a frequency of 1HzDynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) was performed toinitially investigate if the addition of the wood apple shellparticles with epoxy will improve the mechanical properties

29 Erosion Testing The erosion test was conducted onerosion wear test rig according to the ASTM G76-95 stan-dard test method In the erosion test apparatus dry andcompressed air is used to accelerate the abrasive particles tostrike the test specimen and pressure changes at the nozzleare adjusted with a pressure regulator and controlled with amanometer Angular silica sand abrasive particles with theaverage size range 150ndash250120583m of irregular shape are used aserodent agents By double disc method the impact velocity ofthe particles was found to be 48ms The parameters for theerosion experiment are given in Table 5 The weight loss isrecorded for subsequent calculation of erosion rate

Table 5 Experimental condition for the erosion test

Test parametersErodent Silica sandErodent size (120583m) 200 plusmn 50

Erodent shape AngularHardness of silica particles (HV) 1420 plusmn 50

Impingement angle (1205720) 30 45 60 and 90Impact velocity (ms) 48Erodent feed rate (gmmin) 2107 plusmn 002

Test temperature RTNozzle to sample distance (mm) 10

0

10

20

30

40

50

Epoxy 5 10 15 20

Tens

ile st

reng

th (M

Pa)

Composite samples

Figure 3 Effect of tensile strength of composite

3 Results and Discussion

31 Density and Void Fraction Density of the compositesdecreases with increasing the filler content as compared topolymer this is due to the lighter density of filler material(1068 gcc) The void content decreases with increasing fillercontent up to 15 wt this may be due to addition of lesshydrophilic filler material Beyond 15wt the void contentslightly increases this is due to imbalance of filler and matrixweight percentage shown in Table 4

32 Mechanical Properties The mechanical properties of acomposite depend on the nature of the filler resin resin-filler adhesion and cross-linking agents and not the leaston the method of the processing Therefore any improve-ment in the property is evaluated as compared to that ofthe polymer matrix undergone the same processing Thefillers are impregnated by the liquid resin usually at roomtemperature and then treated with some cross-linking agentfor hardening Usually with an increase in the filler content inthe composition the tensile and flexural property graduallyimproves Beyond certain limit of the filler content how-ever depending on the method of processing the adhesionbetween the resin and the filler decreases resulting in thedecrease in the strength of final products [20]

321 Tensile Properties Figure 3 shows the effect of fillerloading on the tensile strength of wood apple shell particulatecomposite It was observed that tensile strength increased


Table 6 Mechanical properties of some epoxy polymer composites

Resin Filler (particles) Corresponding filler content (wt) Tensile strength (MPa) Flexural strength (MPa) ReferenceEpoxy Wood apple shell 15 456 7819Epoxy Coconut shell 20 3060 6345 [24]Epoxy Orange peel 20 2585 6235 [25]Epoxy Ipomoea carnea 30 2375 5247 [26]Epoxy Pineapple-leaf 30 mdash 802 [27]

0102030405060708090

Flex

ural

stre

ngth

(MPa

)

Epoxy 5 10 15 20Composite samples

Figure 4 Effect of flexural strength of composite

with increasing filler loading up to 15wt after that thestrength of the composite slightly decreased at 20wt fillerloading Joseph et al have found the same trend [21] in theirresearch It is generally agreed that at high filler loading itis more difficult for the polymer to penetrate the decreasingspaces between the fillers leading to poor wetting and hencea reduction in the stress transfer efficiency across the filler-resin interface

322 Flexural Properties Figure 4 shows the flexuralstrength of wood apple shell particulate composite at differentfiller loading The result shows the same trend as with thetensile properties Flexural strength of wood apple shell-epoxy composite is increased from 542MPa to 7819MPaand then decreased from 7819MPa to 6816MPa Similarresults were also observed by Ismail et al [22] and Yao andLi [23] this decrease is attributed to the inability of the fillerto support stresses transferred from the polymer matrix andpoor interfacial bonding generates partially spaces betweenfiller and matrix materials which generates a weak structure

Epoxy resin has excellent adhesion to a large number ofmaterials and could be further strengthenedwith the additionof fiber or particulates The improved strength of the epoxydue to filler addition and a comparison of optimum resultsobtained in many natural fillers with wood apple shell areshown inTable 6 From the results it is observed that thewoodapple shell reinforced composite gives best results at 15 wtfiller in both tensile and flexural cases when compared withthe other filler loading

323 Interlaminar Shear Strength (ILSS) Generally ILSSincreases with the reduction of void fraction From the ILSS

0

05

1

15

2

25

ILSS

of c

ompo

sites

(MPa

)


Figure 5 Effect of ILSS of composite

results shown in Figure 5 it is observed that increasingthe filler content leads to the increase of the ILSS of thecomposites which can be related to the effect of increasing thedegree of adhesion at interfaces among the filler and matrixmaterials The factors that caused the improvements in ILSSproperties are the load transfer capability between the matrixand filler materials and strong interfacial bonding betweenfiller and matrix [28] But at 20wt ILSS slightly decreasesdue to increasing the void content or crack formation at theinterface of composite

324 Dynamic Mechanical Analysis Figure 6 compares thevariation of the storage modulus 1198641015840 for the different woodapple shell particles composites investigated as a function ofthe temperature The curves in this figure revealed that theincorporation of wood apple shell particles sensibly increasesthe value of 1198641015840 In fact at 25∘C 1198641015840 for pure epoxy is around1122GPa and for 15 filler composite is around 2447GPaThis means that the wood apple shell particles increase theepoxymatrix capacity to supportmechanical constraintswithrecoverable viscoelastic deformation In particular the com-posite stiffness is substantially increased with shell particlesincorporation

Figure 7 depicts the variation of the loss modulus 11986410158401015840for the different composites investigated as a function ofthe temperature All 11986410158401015840 curves in this figure show broadpeaks with distinct amplitude and temperatures positions ascompared to the pure epoxy peak These can be associatedwith the ldquo120572rdquo peak and suggest a more complex structuralrelaxation behavior by the composites According toMohantyet al [29] this relaxation is attributed to the chain mobilityof the polymeric matrix It is noticed from Figure 8 thatall composite peaks are displaced to lower temperatures in


0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

25 50 75 100 125 150 175 200

Neat epoxy5 filler10 filler

15 filler20 filler

Stor

age m

odul

usE998400

(MPa

)

Temperature (∘C)

Figure 6 Variation of the storagemodulus with the temperature forthe pure epoxy and the composites reinforced with different volumefractions of wood apple shell particles

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

25 45 65 85 105 125 145 165 185Temperature (∘C)


15 filler20 filler

Loss

mod

ulus

E998400998400

(MPa

)

Figure 7 Variation of the loss modulus with the temperature forthe pure epoxy and the composites reinforced with different volumefractions of wood apple shell particles

comparison to the pure epoxy peaks This is possible due toan increase in the flexibility of the epoxy chains caused by theincorporation of wood apple shell particles On the contrarythe peaks of11986410158401015840 for the polymer composites [30] are displacedto higher temperatures indicating a reduction in the chainflexibility

325 Erosion Wear Properties Figure 8 shows the influenceof impingement angle on erosive wear of wood apple shellparticulate epoxy composite It is clearly observed fromthe figure the impingement angles significantly influencingerosion rate The maximum erosion is occurring in between40 and 60∘ impingement angle of all composite samplesirrespective of filler loading Increase in impingement angle30 to 45∘ under similar operating conditions shows slightincrease in erosion rate It can be seen that the weight loss wasmaximum at 45∘ impingement angle for all composites So

0

000005

00001

000015

00002

000025

00003

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Eros

ion

wea

r (g

g)

Epoxy510

1520

Impingment angle (∘C)

Figure 8 Effect of impingement angle on the erosion wear rate ofthe composites at impact velocity 48ms

No void and filler chip out from surface

Figure 9 SEM of 15 wt flexural specimen

the wood apple shell composite is behaving like semiductilemode of erosion wear [31 32] But on further increase inimpingement angle from 45∘ to 60∘ almost all the compositesshowed minimum erosion rate

4 Morphological Characterisation

The state of dispersion of wood apple particles into the resinmatrix plays a significant role on themechanical properties ofthe composite SEM is used to evaluate the particle dispersionin the composite The morphology of the composites wasinvestigated using a scanning electron microscope (SEM)(JEOL jsm-6480lv) at an accelerating voltage of 15 kV)

Figure 9 shows the microstructure of 15 wt flexuralspecimen From the microstructure it is evident that due toincorporation of 15 wt filler with epoxy resin it is foundto have good interfacial bonding between filler and matrixmaterials Hence no voids and microcracks were found onthe surface of the composite which has given the compositelittle positive strength to flexural load But at 20wt theproblem occurred at the time of mixing of filler and resin


Filler chip out due to stress

Crack found

Void formed

Figure 10 SEM of 20wt flexural specimen

Figure 11 SEM of eroded composite surface (impact velocity48ms 5 wt filler and impact 45∘ angle)

due to maximum percentage of reinforcing materials Due toimproper mixing of the fiber and matrix a poor interfacialbonding creates between the material From Figure 10 it isobserved that a small micro cracks and voids are also foundon the surface of the composite is also a region for reductionin strength of the composite

SEM analysis of different composites (5 10 15 and20wt) with constant impact velocity 48ms and impinge-ment angle 45∘ is shown in Figures 11 12 13 and 14 It isobserved from Figures 11 and 12 that as the filler percentageincreases from 5 to 10wt the cracks formation andmaterialremoval on the surface are decreased this is due to increaseof bonding between the filler and the matrix From Figures12 13 and 14 it is clearly noticed that the material removalincreases slightly as compared to 10wt this is due to wetability problem and increase of void fraction content Thesemorphological analyzed results validate the results obtainedin the erosion test

5 Conclusions

(1) Density and void contents of the wood apple shellparticulates composites decrease with increasing thefiller content as compared to polymer

(2) With the addition of wood apple shell particles inepoxy resin the tensile and flexural strength increases



However wood apple shell particulates epoxy com-posite shows better mechanical strength than otherpolymer

(3) The increase of the filler plays an important rolein improving the ILSS of the mechanical behaviorof composites The improvements of ILSS up tooptimum filler content that is 15 wt indicatedbetter interfacial interaction and effective load trans-fer between filler and epoxy resin due to betterdispersion

(4) Study of influence of impingement angle on erosionrate of the composites filled with different weightpercentages of filler loading reveals their semiduc-tile nature with respect to erosion wear The peakerosion rate is found to be occurring at 45∘ to 60∘impingement angle for all the composite samplesunder various experimental conditions irrespective offiller loading

(5) DMA investigations on wood apple shell particlesfilled composites exhibit the better storage modulusthan neat epoxy composite

(6) From the SEM analysis it is clearly observed thatthere is a formation of micro cracks voids and poorinterfacial bonding which causes the reduction instrength these defects can be overcome by employingother fabrication techniques


Figure 14 SEM of eroded composite surface (impact velocity48ms 20wt filler and impact 45∘ angle)

Conflict of Interests

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interestsregarding the publication of this paper

References

[1] J RoutMMisra S S Tripathy S K Nayak andA KMohantyldquoThe influence of fibre treatment of the performance of coir-polyester compositesrdquo Composites Science and Technology vol61 no 9 pp 1303ndash1310 2001

[2] A K Rana A Mandal and S Bandyopadhyay ldquoShort jute fiberreinforced polypropylene composites effect of compatibiliserimpact modifier and fiber loadingrdquo Composites Science andTechnology vol 63 no 6 pp 801ndash806 2003

[3] S V Joshi L T Drzal A K Mohanty and S Arora ldquoArenatural fiber composites environmentally superior to glass fiberreinforced compositesrdquo Composites A vol 35 no 3 pp 371ndash376 2004

[4] S K Nayak S Mohanty and S K Samal ldquoInfluence of shortbambooglass fiber on the thermal dynamic mechanical andrheological properties of polypropylene hybrid compositesrdquoMaterials Science and Engineering A vol 523 no 1-2 pp 32ndash382009

[5] H Pihtili and N Tosun ldquoInvestigation of the wear behaviourof a glass-fibre-reinforced composite and plain polyester resinrdquoComposites Science and Technology vol 62 no 3 pp 367ndash3702002

[6] N Chand A Naik and S Neogi ldquoThree-body abrasive wear ofshort glass fibre polyester compositerdquoWear vol 242 no 1-2 pp38ndash46 2000

[7] I Z Bujang M K Awang and A E Ismail ldquoStudy on thedynamic characteristic of coconut fiber reinforced compositesrdquoin Proceedings of the Regional Conference on EngineeringMathe-matics Mechanics Manufacturing and Architechture PutrajayaMalaysia 2007

[8] H P S Abdul Khalil S Hanida C W Kang and N AN Fuaad ldquoAgro-hybrid composite the effects on mechanicaland physical properties of oil palm fiber (EFB)glass hybridreinforced polyester compositesrdquo Journal of Reinforced Plasticsamp Composites vol 26 no 2 pp 203ndash218 2007

[9] S-Y Fu X Y Hu and C-Y Yue ldquoThe flexural modulus ofmisaligned short-fiber-reinforced polymersrdquo Composites Sci-ence and Technology vol 59 no 10 pp 1533ndash1542 1999

[10] R M N Arib S M Sapuan M M H M Ahmad M TParidah and H M D Khairul Zaman ldquoMechanical propertiesof pineapple leaf fibre reinforced polypropylene compositesrdquoMaterials amp Design vol 27 no 5 pp 391ndash396 2006

[11] L YMwaikambo and E T N Bisanda ldquoPerformance of cotton-kapok fabric-polyester compositesrdquo Polymer Testing vol 18 no3 pp 181ndash198 1999

[12] H Aireddy and S C Mishra ldquoTribological behaviour andmechanical properties of bio-waste reinforced polymer matrixcompositesrdquo Journal ofMetallurgy andMaterials Science vol 53no 2 pp 139ndash152 2011

[13] F M Margem S N Monteiro J B Neto R J S Rodriguezand B G Soares ldquoThe dynamic-mechanical behavior ofepoxy matrix composites reinforced with ramie fibersrdquo RevistaMateria vol 15 no 2 pp 167ndash175 2010

[14] G Sui S Jana A Salehi-khojin et al ldquoPreparation and prop-erties of natural sand particles reinforced epoxy compositesrdquoMacromolecular Materials and Engineering vol 292 no 4 pp467ndash473 2007

[15] A Hager K Friedrich Y A Dzenis et al ldquoStudies of erosionwear of advanced polymer compositesrdquo in Proceedings of the10th International Conference on Composite Materials (ICCMrsquo95) K Street and B CWhistler Eds pp 155ndash162WoodHeadBritish Columbia Canada 1995

[16] M Roy B Vishwanathan and G Sundararajan ldquoThe solidparticle erosion of polymer matrix compositesrdquo Wear vol 171no 1-2 pp 149ndash161 1994

[17] J J Rajesh J Bijwe U S Tewari and B Venkataraman ldquoErosivewear behavior of various polyamidesrdquoWear vol 249 no 8 pp702ndash714 2001

[18] G Anusha ldquoThe removal of iron from wastewater using woodapple shell as adsorbentrdquo in Proceedings of the 2nd InternationalConference on Environmental Science and Technology (IPCBEErsquo11) vol 6 IACSIT Press Singapore

[19] R Ahmad and R Kumar ldquoAdsorptive removal of congo red dyefrom aqueous solution using bael shell carbonrdquo Applied SurfaceScience vol 257 no 5 pp 1628ndash1633 2010

[20] K Begum and M A Islam ldquoNatural fiber as a substituteto synthetic fiber in polymer composites a reviewrdquo ResearchJournal of Engineering Sciences vol 2 no 3 pp 46ndash53 2013

[21] K Joseph S Varghese G Kalaprasad et al ldquoInfluence ofinterfacial adhesion on the mechanical properties and fracturebehaviour of short sisal fibre reinforced polymer compositesrdquoEuropean Polymer Journal vol 32 no 10 pp 1243ndash1250 1996

[22] H Ismail M R Edyham and B Wirjosentono ldquoBamboo fibrefilled natural rubber composites the effects of filler loading andbonding agentrdquo Polymer Testing vol 21 no 2 pp 139ndash144 2002

[23] WYao andZ Li ldquoFlexural behavior of bamboo-fiber-reinforcedmortar laminatesrdquo Cement and Concrete Research vol 33 no 1pp 15ndash19 2003

[24] S Kumar and B Kumar ldquoStudy of mechanical properties ofcoconut shell particle and coir fibre reinforced epoxy compos-iterdquo International Journal of Advances in Engineering Researchvol 4 no 2 2012

[25] S Ojha R Gujjala S K Acharya et al ldquoFabrication and studyof mechanical properties of orange PEEL reinforced polymercompositerdquo Caspian Journal of Applied Sciences Research vol 1no 13 pp 190ndash194 2012

[26] K K Basumatary and S K Acharya ldquoInvestigation intomechanical properties of Ipomoea carnea reinforced epoxycompositerdquo International Journal of Macromolecular Sciencevol 3 no 3 pp 11ndash15 2013


[27] L U Devi S S Bhagawan and S Thomas ldquoMechanical prop-erties of pineapple leaf fiber-reinforced polyester compositesrdquoJournal of Applied Polymer Science vol 64 no 9 pp 1739ndash17481997

[28] M M Rahman S Zainuddin M V Hosur et al ldquoEffect ofNH2

-MWCNTs on crosslink density of epoxy matrix and ILSSproperties of e-glassepoxy compositesrdquo Composite Structuresvol 95 pp 213ndash221 2013

[29] SMohanty S KVerma and SKNayak ldquoDynamicmechanicaland thermal properties of MAPE treated juteHDPE compos-itesrdquo Composites Science and Technology vol 66 no 3-4 pp538ndash547 2006

[30] H Kishi andA Fujita ldquoWood-based epoxy resins and the ramiefiber reinforced compositesrdquo Environmental Engineering andManagement Journal vol 7 no 5 pp 517ndash523 2008

[31] J C Arnold and I M Hutchings ldquoErosive wear of rubber bysolid particles at normal incidencerdquo Wear vol 161 no 1-2 pp213ndash221 1993

[32] J C Arnold and I M Hutchings ldquoModel for the erosive wearof rubber at oblique impact anglesrdquo Journal of Physics D vol 25no 1 pp A222ndashA229 1992

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MetallurgyJournal of


BioMed Research International

MaterialsJournal of


Nano

materials


Journal ofNanomaterials


resistance of composites along with epoxy in DMA analysisGang Sui [14] fabricated an epoxy composite using Cancunnatural hydrophobic sand particle as filler material andfound through dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) thatthe storage modulus and glass transition temperature of thesand particlesepoxy composites were increased comparedto the pristine epoxy There are some possibilities wherethe composite may encounter impacts of materials like sandand slurry of solid particles so consequently the materialmay failed due to erosion wear [15] The erosion wear ofreinforced polymer composite is usually higher than unre-inforced polymer matrix [16] Rajesh et al [17] selected aseries of polyamides for investigating the effects of chemicalstructure and hence mechanical properties on erosive wearbehaviour by impinging silica sand particles at various anglesand doses The results indicated that the influence of velocityimpact on erosion rate was more dramatic at an obliqueimpact angle (30∘) than at normal impact angle (90∘)

Numerous research works are carried out on variousfiller materials that can give good dispersion and interfacialadhesion between the filler and polymer matrices In thiswork we fabricated an epoxy composite using a new naturalfiller material that is wood apple shell particulate becauseparticulate reinforced polymer composites are very attractivedue to the ease of manufacturing and mould ability Anusha[18] usedwood apple shell particulates as an absorbent for theremoval of iron from waste water Ahmad and Kumar [19]also studied the adsorptive removal of Congo red dye fromaqueous solution using bael shell carbon

Wood apple (Aegle marmelos) that belongs to familyRutaceae is a highly reputedmedicinal tree commonly knownas bael shown in Figure 1 It is an indigenous fruit of IndiaIt is grown throughout Southeast Asian countries like IndiaSri Lanka Pakistan Bangladesh Burma and Thailand Thepeel of the fruit which is very hard shell and green tobrown in colour depends on ripening stageWood apple shellmainly consists of carbohydrate component such as cellulosehemicellulose and lignin

The main aim of this research was to investigate theinfluence of wood apple shell particles on mechanical andtribological properties of epoxy composites and also studythe temperature variation of the dynamic-mechanical param-eters such as storage modulus and loss modulus of epoxymatrix composites incorporated with wood apple shell par-ticles by DMA tests

2 Materials and Methods

21 Particulate Preparation The wood apple shell (WAS)used in this study is washed several times with distilledwater to remove the impurities and waste The shell materialwas dried at 110∘C for 48 h in an oven to remove excesswater content and moisture After drying the raw materialswere crushed into small pieces with the help of a crusherAfter crushing the small pieces of shell materials and finallyconverted into fine granular size particles by ballmill for 48 hThe particle size used in this experiment was 212-1 120583m TheSEM of the particle size is shown in Figure 2

Wood apple fruit

Wood apple shell

Figure 1 Wood apple shell

Particles

100120583m

45120583m

Figure 2 Wood apple shell particles

Table 1 Proximate analysis ( by mass) of wood apple shellparticles

Sample Wood apple shellFixed carbon 1921Moisture 66Ash 085Volatile 7334

22 Raw Material Analysis Proximate analysis is one ofthe most important characterization methods to analyse thebiofiller It consists of determiningmoisture ash volatilemat-ter and fixed carbon contents of the biomass The proximateanalysis of wood apple shell particles is presented in Table 1

The ultimate analysis of a sample determines the elemen-tal compositions (carbon (C) hydrogen (H) nitrogen (N)and sulphur (S) contents) of the sample which is presentedin Table 2 It is based on the principle of Dumas methodwhich involves the complete and instantaneous oxidation ofthe sample by flash combustion An ultimate analyzer (CHN-932 Leco) was used for analyzing the chemical compositionof wood apple shell particulates The chemical compositionof wood apple shell particles is presented in Table 3

23 Composite Fabrication A wooden mold of 150 times 60 times5mm3 is used for manufacturing the composite A moldrelease spray was applied at the inner surface of the moldfor quick and easy release of the composite The wood apple










120588ct =1

(119882119891120588119891) + (119882

119898120588119898) (1)


120588ct =1

(119882119898120588119898) + (119882

119901120588119901) (2)



offiller

Actual density(gcc)



Epoxy 11800 12 1665 11799 1193 10610 11755 1185 08315 11725 1178 04820 118 1171 076


119878ct =1198820

(1198820) + (119882

119886minus119882119887) (3)




Consider

120588ca = 119878ct times 120588119896 (4)


119881V =120588ct minus 120588ca120588ct (5)






120590max =(3119875max119871)

1198871199052 (6)



SH =(075119875

119861)

119887ℎ (7)










0

10

20

30

40

50

Epoxy 5 10 15 20

Tens

ile st

reng

th (M

Pa)

Composite samples









0102030405060708090

Flex

ural

stre

ngth

(MPa

)







0

05

1

15

2

25

ILSS

of c

ompo

sites

(MPa

)







0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

25 50 75 100 125 150 175 200


15 filler20 filler

Stor

age m

odul

usE998400

(MPa

)

Temperature (∘C)


0

50

100

150

200

250

300

25 45 65 85 105 125 145 165 185Temperature (∘C)


15 filler20 filler

Loss

mod

ulus

E998400998400

(MPa

)




0

000005

00001

000015

00002

000025

00003

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Eros

ion

wea

r (g

g)

Epoxy510

1520











Crack found

Void formed





5 Conclusions














References










































CeramicsJournal of







Biomaterials




Journal of


Journal of





CoatingsJournal of

Advances in








MaterialsJournal of


Nano

materials












120588ct =1

(119882119891120588119891) + (119882

119898120588119898) (1)


120588ct =1

(119882119898120588119898) + (119882

119901120588119901) (2)



offiller

Actual density(gcc)



Epoxy 11800 12 1665 11799 1193 10610 11755 1185 08315 11725 1178 04820 118 1171 076


119878ct =1198820

(1198820) + (119882

119886minus119882119887) (3)




Consider

120588ca = 119878ct times 120588119896 (4)


119881V =120588ct minus 120588ca120588ct (5)






120590max =(3119875max119871)

1198871199052 (6)



SH =(075119875

119861)

119887ℎ (7)










0

10

20

30

40

50

Epoxy 5 10 15 20

Tens

ile st

reng

th (M

Pa)

Composite samples









0102030405060708090

Flex

ural

stre

ngth

(MPa

)







0

05

1

15

2

25

ILSS

of c

ompo

sites

(MPa

)







0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

25 50 75 100 125 150 175 200


15 filler20 filler

Stor

age m

odul

usE998400

(MPa

)

Temperature (∘C)


0

50

100

150

200

250

300

25 45 65 85 105 125 145 165 185Temperature (∘C)


15 filler20 filler

Loss

mod

ulus

E998400998400

(MPa

)




0

000005

00001

000015

00002

000025

00003

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Eros

ion

wea

r (g

g)

Epoxy510

1520











Crack found

Void formed





5 Conclusions














References










































CeramicsJournal of







Biomaterials




Journal of


Journal of





CoatingsJournal of

Advances in








MaterialsJournal of


Nano

materials





120590max =(3119875max119871)

1198871199052 (6)



SH =(075119875

119861)

119887ℎ (7)










0

10

20

30

40

50

Epoxy 5 10 15 20

Tens

ile st

reng

th (M

Pa)

Composite samples









0102030405060708090

Flex

ural

stre

ngth

(MPa

)







0

05

1

15

2

25

ILSS

of c

ompo

sites

(MPa

)







0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

25 50 75 100 125 150 175 200


15 filler20 filler

Stor

age m

odul

usE998400

(MPa

)

Temperature (∘C)


0

50

100

150

200

250

300

25 45 65 85 105 125 145 165 185Temperature (∘C)


15 filler20 filler

Loss

mod

ulus

E998400998400

(MPa

)




0

000005

00001

000015

00002

000025

00003

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Eros

ion

wea

r (g

g)

Epoxy510

1520











Crack found

Void formed





5 Conclusions














References










































CeramicsJournal of







Biomaterials




Journal of


Journal of





CoatingsJournal of

Advances in








MaterialsJournal of


Nano

materials






0102030405060708090

Flex

ural

stre

ngth

(MPa

)







0

05

1

15

2

25

ILSS

of c

ompo

sites

(MPa

)







0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

25 50 75 100 125 150 175 200


15 filler20 filler

Stor

age m

odul

usE998400

(MPa

)

Temperature (∘C)


0

50

100

150

200

250

300

25 45 65 85 105 125 145 165 185Temperature (∘C)


15 filler20 filler

Loss

mod

ulus

E998400998400

(MPa

)




0

000005

00001

000015

00002

000025

00003

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Eros

ion

wea

r (g

g)

Epoxy510

1520











Crack found

Void formed





5 Conclusions














References










































CeramicsJournal of







Biomaterials




Journal of


Journal of





CoatingsJournal of

Advances in








MaterialsJournal of


Nano

materials




0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

25 50 75 100 125 150 175 200


15 filler20 filler

Stor

age m

odul

usE998400

(MPa

)

Temperature (∘C)


0

50

100

150

200

250

300

25 45 65 85 105 125 145 165 185Temperature (∘C)


15 filler20 filler

Loss

mod

ulus

E998400998400

(MPa

)




0

000005

00001

000015

00002

000025

00003

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Eros

ion

wea

r (g

g)

Epoxy510

1520











Crack found

Void formed





5 Conclusions














References










































CeramicsJournal of







Biomaterials




Journal of


Journal of





CoatingsJournal of

Advances in








MaterialsJournal of


Nano

materials





Crack found

Void formed





5 Conclusions














References










































CeramicsJournal of







Biomaterials




Journal of


Journal of





CoatingsJournal of

Advances in








MaterialsJournal of


Nano

materials







References










































CeramicsJournal of







Biomaterials




Journal of


Journal of





CoatingsJournal of

Advances in








MaterialsJournal of


Nano

materials


















CeramicsJournal of







Biomaterials




Journal of


Journal of





CoatingsJournal of

Advances in








MaterialsJournal of


Nano

materials



research article effect of filler loading on...

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