Eventos Anais de eventos
COBEM 2021
26th International Congress of Mechanical Engineering
Microstructural characterization of soapstone-reinforced polyethylene composites and correlations with the macroscopic mechanical behavior
Submission Author:
Giulia Simão de Sousa , RJ
Co-Authors:
Giulia Simão de Sousa, Camila Gomes Peçanha de Souza, José d'Almeida
Presenter: Giulia Simão de Sousa
doi://10.26678/ABCM.COBEM2021.COB2021-0755
Abstract
An experimental study was carried out to assess the use of soapstone residue as reinforcement for polymeric composites. Soapstone waste particles were incorporated into a high-density polyethylene (HDPE) matrix in three weight fractions: 10, 20 and 30 wt%. The aim of this study is to perform a microstructural characterization of these composites and to understand its relation to the macroscopic mechanical behavior observed in tensile tests. Automated image analysis was used to determine size and shape parameters of the filler. X-ray microtomography was used to quantify the filler volume fraction, void content, and the microstructural homogeneity of the composites. The analysis revealed that the soapstone particles have a strong tendency of forming clusters in the HDPE matrix and the amount of particle clustering increases with the amount of reinforcement. For higher filler loadings, the volume fraction of clusters in the sample was up to 6.03%. However, statistical analysis revealed that filler distribution was homogeneous throughout the length of the samples. The data from the tensile tests was compared to a macro-mechanical model from the literature. The results revealed that, despite the particle clustering, there was good interfacial adhesion, which resulted in higher strength of the composites in comparison to the polymer matrix.
Keywords
X-ray micro tomography, Automated image analysis, Soapstone, Particulate composites, Polyethylene
