Physical, Mechanical and Thermal Properties of Polyester/Kota Stone Dust Composite

Abstract

In the current investigation, A waste of the stone industry, i.e. Kota stone dust, is explored as a filler material for the development of a polymer composite with polyester as a base matrix material. The different sets of composites are prepared using the hand lay-up method, where the samples are prepared by varying the content of filler from 5 wt. % to 40 wt. %. The properties investigated are physical, mechanical and thermal for all sets of composites and are compared with the values of the neat polyester to understand the effect of the addition of filler. It is observed from the experimentation that the inclusion of Kota stone dust in the polyester resin increases the density and water uptake rate. Further, the mechanical performance of the composites also increased when the filler loading was judiciously selected. The maximum tensile and flexural strength is obtained for filler content 30 wt. %, whereas compressive strength and hardness are reported to be maximum at 40 wt. %. The highest mechanical properties reported in the investigation are 66.2 MPa (tensile strength), 73.2 MPa (flexural strength), 109.4 MPa (Compressive strength) and 84.3 Shore-D number (Hardness). During the thermal characterization, it was observed that the inclusion of Kota stone dust improves the heat conduction behaviour of the fabricated samples. For a filler loading of 40 wt. %, the maximum improvement in thermal conductivity observed is 67.6 % against that of unfilled polyester. Also, a substantial improvement in the value of the glass transition temperature is reported along with the gainful reduction in the coefficient of thermal expansion. At maximum filler loading, the maximum glass transition reported is 89.4 ^oC and the minimum CTE reported is 52.3 × 10^-6 /^oC which is a modification of 37.9 % and 33.1 %, respectively.