S. K. Rai

Tensile, Flexural, and Chemical Resistance Properties of Waste Silk Fabric-reinforced Epoxy Laminates

Waste silk fabric-reinforced epoxy laminates were developed with varying content of silk fabric. The mechanical properties like tensile strength and flexural strength of the composites were determined. These properties were found to increase with silk fabric content. These composites also showed good chemical resistance to some acids, alkalies, and solvents. The interfacial bonding between the reinforcement and the matrix was examined using SEM technique.

Studies on tensile and flexural properties of epoxy toughened with PMMA/granite powder and epoxy toughened with PMMA/fly ash composites

Epoxy is toughened with polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) and different percent weights of granite powder and fly ash are added to this matrix. The tensile and flexural strengths of these composites are determined. The variation of tensile and flexural strengths with granite powder and fly ash content is studied. For comparison, epoxy is also used as the matrix. The tensile and flexural strengths increased with PMMA content up to 4% (w/w) in the composites. The granite powder composites showed better properties than fly ash composites.

Tensile, Flexural Properties of Unsaturated Polyester/Granite Powder and Unsaturated Polyester/Fly Ash Composites

Composites are prepared using unsaturated polyester as the matrix and granite powder and fly ash as fillers. The tensile and flexural strengths of these composites are determined. The variation of tensile and flexural properties with weight fraction of the fillers is studied. The properties of granite powder composites are found to be better than those of fly ash composites.

Impact, Compression, Density, Void Content, and Weight Reduction Studies on Waste Silk Fabric/Epoxy Composites

This paper describes the impact and compression properties of waste silk fabric/epoxy composites with reference to the effect of varying waste silk fabric content within them. Maximum strength in the properties determined is observed for the optimum fabric loading. Properties like density, void content, and weight reduction were also determined for these composites. There is a marked reduction in the void content of the composites, as the weight percentage of the silk increased. The total weight of the composites reduced to a small percentage with the increase in the fabric reinforcement in the composites.

Utilization of Waste Silk Fabric as Reinforcement for Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene Toughened Epoxy Matrix

The blend matrix epoxy-acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) is prepared with varying weight percentage (2, 4, 6, 8, and 10) of ABS content in epoxy and the tensile, flexural, and impact properties of this blend matrix is determined. The blend matrix, which contains 4% ABS content in epoxy shows maximum strength and this is used as the matrix to prepare composites. Composites are prepared with varying weight fraction of silk fabric as the reinforcement and pure epoxy and ABS-epoxy as matrix. The developed composites are tested for their mechanical properties and it is found that the strength of the composites increases after toughening epoxy resin with ABS polymer.

Effect of Fly Ash Content on Impact, Compression, and Water Absorption Properties of Epoxy Toughened with Epoxy Phenol Cashew Nut Shell Liquid–Fly Ash Composites

Fly ash, a waste product generated in a thermal power plant in huge quantities has been posing problems of disposal. The purpose of this study is to make a meaningful utilization of fly ash as the filler in pure epoxy resin matrix and 20% epoxy phenol cashew nut shell liquid (EPCNSL)toughened epoxy matrix. The properties under consideration are impact, compression, and water absorption. Composites are made with varying proportions of fly ash in epoxy resin and 20% EPCNSL-toughened epoxy resin. The compression properties are measured on a computerized universal testing machine according to ASTM procedure. The impact strength is determined using an izod impact tester for unnotched specimens. The toughened matrix filled with fly ash composites shows improved compression modulus over pure epoxy–fly ash composites. The toughened matrix composites show better water absorption property over pure epoxy–fly ash composites.

Studies on the Mechanical Performance of PMMA Toughened Epoxy–Silk and PC Toughened Epoxy–Silk Fabric Composites

Epoxy was toughened with varying weight fractions of polymethyl methracrylate (PMMA) and polycarbonate (PC) individually. The tensile, flexural, and impact properties of the toughened resin matrix were investigated. The blend matrix in the combination, which showed maximum strength, was chosen to prepare composites. Composites were prepared with varying weight percentage of silk fabric loading with PMMA toughened epoxy containing 4wt% of PMMA (which showed the highest strength) and PC toughened epoxy containing 6wt% of PC (which showed highest strength in epoxy–PC blend combinations). The mechanical strength of these composites were also assessed. The strength of the composites was found to increase linearly on increasing the silk fabric loading. An enhancement in the properties was observed after toughening the epoxy resin.

Tensile, Impact, and Chemical Resistance Properties of Granite Powder-Epoxy Composites:

Granite powder-reinforced epoxy composites have been developed with varying granite powder content by weight percentage. The variation of tensile strength and impact strength has been studied and the tensile strength and impact strength were found to be at a maximum for the 50% granite powder-reinforced epoxy composite. The chemical resistance test indicates that the composite materials are resistant to acetic acid, concentrated hydrochloric acid, sodium hydroxide, benzene, carbon tetrachloride, and n-hexane.

Miscibility Studies on Chitosan/Poly(vinyl alcohol) Blends

Miscibility studies of chitosan (CHI)/poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) blend in buffer solution were carried out in several blend compositions (10/90, 20/80, … , 90/10). Viscosity, ultrasonic velocity, density and refractive were measured at 30, 40 and 50°C, respectively. Using viscosity data, the interaction parameters μ and thermodynamic parameter α were computed to determine the miscibility of the blend in solution. These values revealed that the blend is miscible when the chitosan content is more than 60% in the blend. The obtained results were further confirmed by the ultrasonic velocity, density and refractive index study.

Utilization of granite powder as filler in epoxy phenol cashew nut shell liquid-toughened epoxy resin for impact and compression strength

Granite powder, a waste product generated while sizing granite slabs has been posing problems of disposal. The purpose of this study is to make a meaningful utilization of granite powder as the filler in epoxy phenol cashew nut shell liquid (EPCNSL)-toughened epoxy matrix. The properties under consideration are impact and compression. Composites are made with varying proportions of granite powder in pure epoxy and EPCNSL-toughened epoxy matrix system. The impact strength is determined by using an Izod impact tester. The compression properties are measured on a computerized universal testing machine according to ASTM standards. A comparison of the properties of the composites filled with untreated and treated granite powder establish that the treatment of granite powder imparts better reinforcing properties.