Experimental Investigation on Mechanical and Thermo-Mechanical Properties of Alumina Filled Polypropylene Composites Using Injection Molding Process

Abstract

Abstract In the present study, Polypropylene composites were fabricated by varying different weight percentages (0 to 20%) of alumina powder by using Injection Molding Technique. Then the fabricated composites were characterized by physical characterization such as void content test, chemical characterization such as Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, mechanical characterization such as Shore hardness test, flexural test, compressive strength, Izod impact test, thermo-mechanical characterizations such as Dynamic Mechanical Analysis, Thermo-gravimetric analysis and morphological characterizations such as Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Atomic force Microscopy (AFM). The results indicate that the shore hardness values increase up to 25% with the increase in alumina filler up to 20%. The highest flexural strength and flexural modulus achieved are 59.26 MPa and 2126 MPa respectively with 20% filler loading. Further, it was also revealed that the storage modulus of the composites was found to be higher than that of the virgin PP because filler increases the stiffness of the composites. Thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA) measurements indicate that both the initial degradation temperature and end degradation temperature increase with increasing filler content. SEM exhibits that alumina particles were uniformly and finely dispersed though some aggregates and agglomerates are identifiable. AFM results indicate that morphology of alumina in the PP matrix is characterized by a chainlike branched structure.