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Assistant Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tagore Engineering College, Chennai-127
jeykar_28@yahoo.co.in
2
U.G. Student, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tagore Engineering College, Chennai-127
ganasub92@gmail.com,skkiruba93@gmail.com.
ABSTRACT
Polymer matrix based nano composites have become a prominent area of current research and
development. In order to understand and improve these soft and weak mechanical properties of High
Density Polyethylene (HDPE), silane modifier and
Montmorillonite (MMT) is added as the
reinforcement material. Particularly Montmorillonite (MMT) minerals, serve as good nanoclay fillers
owing to their ease of dispersion in the organic matrix. The HDPE and MMT mixing process has been
done by using twin screw extrusion. Injection molding machine with the help of the twin screw mixing
method produces standard shaped specimens of Polymer-Clay Nanocomposites (PCN) i.e. HDPE/MMT
nanocomposites pellets. By adding the different weight percentages (0,1,2, 3,4 wt. %) of MMT,
mechanical properties of nanocomposites were investigated by different test like tensile test, impact test,
finding hardness and flexural test. The result shown that the addition of nanoclay will influence the
important mechanical properties up to certain volume of clay, beyond which it reduces with the predicted
amount of clay percentage towards better properties, one can able to use the data for safer design.
1.1 OVER VIEW OF NANOCOMPOSITES
A Nanocomposite is as a multiphase
solid material where one of the phases has one,
two or three dimensions of less than 100
nanometers (nm), or structures having nanoscale repeat distances between the different
phases that make up the material. In the broadest
sense this definition can include porous media,
colloids, gels and copolymers, but is more
usually taken to mean the solid combination of a
bulk matrix and nano-dimensional phases
differing in properties due to dissimilarities in
structure and chemistry. The mechanical,
electrical, thermal, optical, electrochemical,
catalytic properties of the Nanocomposites will
differ markedly from that of the component
materials. Size limits for these effects have been
proposed less than 5 nm for catalytic activity,
less than 20 nm for making a hard magnetic
1.2 POLYMER
NANOCOMPOSITES
CLAY
CHAPTER 2
Polyethylene is probably the polymer you see
most in daily life. Polyethylene is the most
popular plastic in the world. This is the polymer
that makes grocery bags, shampoo bottles,
children's toys, and even bullet proof vests. For
such a versatile material, it has a very simple
structure, the simplest of all commercial
polymers. A molecule of polyethylene is nothing
more than a long chain of carbon atoms, with
two hydrogen atoms attached to each carbon
atom. That's what the picture at the top of the
page shows, but it might be easier to draw it like
the picture below, only with the chain of carbon
atoms being many thousands of atoms long:
EXPERIMENTAL WORK
2.1. MATERIALS USED
The materials selected for making the
nanocomposites is as follows.
POLYMER- Polyethylene
NANO CLAY-Montmorillonite(MMT) Clay
2.3.1
TWIN
TECHNIQUE:
SCREW
EXTRUDER
2.3.2
INJUCTION
TECHNIQUE
MOULDING
Fig.3.1
Schematic view of Tensometer
3.2 TENSILE TEST (ASTM D 638):
A test that determines the overall
strength of a given object. In a tensile test, the
object is fitted between two grips at either end
then slowly pulled apart until it breaks. A tensile
test provides vital information related to a
products durability including yield point, tensile
strength and proof stress.
CHAPTER 4
RESULT AND DISCUSSIONS
The Prepared nano composites were
tested in tensile test machine and impact test
machine. The experiment has been conducted
like tensile test, flexural test, impact test and
shore hardness for various specimens like
different weight percentage (0% to 4%).There is
difference in tensile strength, flexural strength,
impact test and shore hardness when increasing
the nano clay content in the polymer matrix. The
values that obtained are tabulated and graphs
were shown below.
Where,
L
B
h
m
= Peak load
= Gauge length
= Width of the specimen
=Thickness of the specimen
= Initial slope
Flexural Strength
Flexural Modulus
0% MMT/HDPE
163.5
1.0080
1% MMT/HDPE
196.16
0.3340
2% MMT/HDPE
212.5
0.0926
3% MMT/HDPE
196.16
0.3088
4% MMT/HDPE
212.5
0.1085
4.4.2 GRAPH FOR FLEXURAL
STRENGTH
Flexural Strength
250
200
Mpa
150
100
Flexural Strength
50
0
0
Eng UTS
2.6
3.1
3.4
3.1
3.4
True UTS
2.7
3.2
3.4
3.1
3.4
Proof stress
1.8
1.6
1.3
1.2
1.3
Chemical resistance.
Surface appearance.
Electrical conductivity.
Optical clarity in comparison
conventionally filled polymers.
to
4.3
DISADVANTAGES
OF
POLYETHLENE / MMT COMPOSITES
The few disadvantages associated with
nanoparticle incorporation have concerned
toughness and impact performance. Some of the
data presented has suggested that nanoclay
PUBLICATIONS
NATIONAL CONFERENCE
CHAPTER 7
REFERENCE
CHAPTER 5
CONCLUSION
HDPE polymer filled with nanoclay at
various concentrations (0, 1, 2, 3 and 4wt. %)
was prepared by using twin screw compounding
and injection molding method. It was observed
that up to 4 wt. % nanoclay in the PE matrix, an
exfoliated structure was formed and further
addition of nanoclay formed an intercalated
structure. In nanocomposites, nanoclay as the
reinforcement and a polymer serves as the
matrix material. Particularly Montmorillonite
10