Mechanical Properties of Potassium Titanate Whisker Reinforced Epoxy Resin Composites

M. Sudheer, K. M. Subbaya, Dayananda Jawali, Thirumaleshwara Bhat

Department of Industrial Production Engineering,National Institute of Engineering, Mysore-570 008, Karnataka, INDIA..
Department of Mechanical Engineering,Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering, Mysore-575 006. Karnataka, INDIA.
Department of Mechanical Engineering,St. Joseph Engineering College, Mangalore-575 028, Karnataka, INDIA..

DOI: 10.4236/jmmce.2012.112016                

Abstract

This paper deals with the study of mechanical properties of Potassium Titanate Whisker (PTW) reinforced epoxy based Polymer Matrix Composites (PMCs). Epoxy composites filled with PTW in various content of 0-20 wt% were prepared using the casting technique. Data on neat epoxy is also included for comparison. All tests were conducted at room temperature and as per ASTM standards. It was observed that inclusion of PTW affected most of the mechanical properties of neat epoxy. Density, hardness and heat deflection temperature of neat epoxy were found to increase with the PTW content. However tensile and flexural properties of the developed composites exhibited a varying trend with respect to PTW content. Epoxy filled with 10 wt% PTW showed good improvement in tensile strength and flexural strength of neat epoxy. It was observed that PTW is not beneficial in improving the impact strength of neat epoxy. Composites with 20 wt% PTW exhibited least impact strength. This paper also highlights the possible reasons for variation in the mechanical properties of developed polymer composites.

Keywords

Epoxy, PTW, PMCs, Mechanical Properties.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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