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Experimental study on the effect of compression load on the elastic properties of HDPE/SWCNTs nanocomposites

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Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the elastic properties of High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) reinforced with Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes (SWCNTs) at various weight fractions. The HDPE/SWCNTs nanocomposites were produced using compression moulding. Six SWCNTs weight fractions and two compression loads were considered. The experimental approach was used for the investigation where the tensile tests were conducted. Twelve experiments were designed according to the Taguchi approach. The effect of the SWCNTs weight fraction and the compression load on the elastic properties of HDPE/SWCNTs nanocomposites were investigated. The results showed that the SWCNTs weight fraction has a much higher effect on the elastic modulus of nanocomposites compared to the effect of compression load. By adding 1.5 wt% of SWCNTs nanoparticles into HDPE matrix, the elastic modulus of HDPE/SWCNTs nanocomposites samples improved by 36% for those processed at the compression load of 2000 N and 29% for those processed at 3000 N. Furthermore, the stress–strain curves obtained during tensile test displayed the characteristics of the brittle materials which indicated that the nanocomposites produced were hard.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to acknowledge: The Department of Mechanical Engineering Science, Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of Johannesburg, South Africa. The National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa. And the URC of the University of Johannesburg.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mechanical Engineering Science Department, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa

    R. T. Tebeta, N. A. Ahmed & A. M. Fattahi

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  1. R. T. Tebeta
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  2. N. A. Ahmed
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  3. A. M. Fattahi
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Correspondence to A. M. Fattahi.

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Appendix

Appendix

From Table 5, the average tensile test elastic modulus of the HDPE/SWCNTs nanoparticle processed at the compression load of 2000 N at o wt% and 1.5 wt% are 491.298 MPa and 666.669 MPa respectively, then the elastic modulus increase is:

$$ \frac{666.669 - 491.298}{{491.298}} \times 100 = 36\% $$
(2)

From Table 5, the average tensile test elastic modulus of the HDPE/SWCNTs nanoparticle processed at the compression load of 3000 N at o wt% and 1.5 wt% are 577.439 MPa and 747.109 MPa respectively, then the elastic modulus increase is:

$$ \frac{747.109 - 577.439}{{577.439}} \times 100 = 29\% $$
(3)

From Table 6, the average amount of the elastic modulus at the weight fractions of 0 wt% and 1.5 wt% SWCNTs are 534.369 MPa and 706.889 MPa respectively, then the elastic modulus increase is:

$$ \frac{706.889 - 534.369}{{534.369}} \times 100 = 32\% $$
(4)

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Tebeta, R.T., Ahmed, N.A. & Fattahi, A.M. Experimental study on the effect of compression load on the elastic properties of HDPE/SWCNTs nanocomposites. Microsyst Technol 27, 3513–3522 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-020-05098-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-020-05098-9

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