Abstract
In recent years, buried bellows have often had safety accidents such as pipeline bursts and ground subsidence due to the lack of adequate mechanical properties and other quality problems. In order to improve the mechanical properties of bellows, fly ash (FA) was used as a reinforced filler in high density polyethylene (HDPE) to develop composites. The FA was surface treated with a silane coupling agent and HDPE-g-maleic anhydride was used as compatibilizer. Dumbbell-shaped samples were prepared via extrusion blending and injection molding. The cross-section morphology, thermal stability and mechanical properties of the composites were studied. It was observed that when 10% modified FA and 5% compatibilizer were added to HDPE, the tensile yield strength and tensile breaking strength of the composites were nearly 30.2% and 40.4% higher than those of pure HDPE, respectively, and the Young’s modulus could reach 1451.07 MPa. In addition, the ring stiffness of the bellows was analyzed using finite element analysis. Compared with a same-diameter bellows fabricated from common commercially available materials, the ring stiffness increased by nearly 23%. The preparation method of FA/HDPE is simple, efficient, and low-cost. It is of great significance for the popularization of high-performance bellows and the high value-added utilization of FA.
Highlights
There have been problems in urban underground pipe networks for a long time, such as insufficient performance of drainage and sewage pipes, uneven product quality, and so on
In this study, modified fly ash (FA) was prepared into a masterbatch as a reinforcing filler, and a series of FA/high density polyethylene (HDPE) composite materials were prepared
In order to study whether the composite materials were suitable for preparing large-diameter bellows, the ring stiffness of common diameter bellows made of FA/HDPE composites was simulated and calculated using finite element analysis
Summary
There have been problems in urban underground pipe networks for a long time, such as insufficient performance of drainage and sewage pipes, uneven product quality, and so on. The ring stiffness can be increased by improving the mechanical properties of the materials used to prepare the bellows. With the increasing demand for high-performance bellows and the reduction in the amount of polyethylene raw materials, many people try to add inorganic fillers to HDPE to obtain stronger mechanical properties and cut the use of polyethylene raw materials. The finite element analysis method was used to simulate the ring stiffness testing process in this paper, and the finite element simulation results were used to verify the potential application value of the prepared HDPE composites in bellows. Based on the analysis and discussion of the above results, the composite material prepared in this paper was simple to prepare, low-cost and suitable for the preparation of large-caliber buried bellows, and contributed to high value-added utilization of FA
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