THE IMPACT OF PROCESSING CONDITIONS ON THE MECHANICAL PROPERTIES, HARDNESS, AND STRUCTURE MORPHOLOGY OF POLYPROPYLENE/SILICA SAND POWDER

Abstract

The polypropylene/silica sand powder polymer composite materials were
fabricated by using the melt mixing method in a Haake internal mixer in the range
of 170o
C - 200o
C. The polypropylene/silica sand powder polymer composite
materials were fabricated by using the melt mixing method in a Haake internal
mixer with varied conditions by adjusting the temperature range from 170o
C to
200o
C, rotor speed from 40 - 70rpm, and fusion time of 3 - 5 min. Torque visco of
materials was also recorded by Haake Polylab software during melt mixing. The
result indicated that uniformly dispersed materials at 50rpm for 5 min produced
good mechanical properties with a significant improvement in hardness. Fourier
transform infrared spectroscopy, mechanical properties, and scanning electron
microscopy (SEM) of the materials were investigated.