Experimental Investigation Of Pumice Particulate Reinforced Epoxy Composites

Abstract

Pumice Stone Is Found In Nature During The Rapid Cooling And Solidification Of Molten Lava And It Is Available In Ethiopia Abundantly. The Characteristics, Compositions, Abundance, Biodegradability, Eco-Friendliness, Lightweights And High Thermal Resistance Of It, Makes Pumice A Competitive Candidate Among Other Commercial Particulate Reinforcements For Polymer Matrix. In The Present Work, Pumice Particulates Are Utilized To Prepare Epoxy Based Composites. Four Types Of Composites Are Prepared By Open Mold Casting Method By Varying Pumice Content (0, 10, 20, And 30 Vol.%). Physical Characterization In Terms Of Particle Size Analysis, X-Ray Dif Raction (Xrd), Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectrometer (Eds), Density And Void Content Estimation Was Carried Out. Mechanical Characterizations In Terms Of Tensile, Flexural, Compression, Impact, And Hardness Test Finally Water Absorption Studies Were Performed As Per American Society For Testing And Materials (Astm) Standards. Density Of Composites Decrease With Increase In Pumice Content Due To The Low Density Pumice Particles. Compressive Properties Of Composites Enhance Significantly By Reinforcing Pumice Content. Modulus Of All The Composites Is Increased By 54-58% When Compared To Plain Epoxy While Specific Modulus Also Reveal Increasing Trends With Increase In Pumice Content And Noted To Be In 65-93% Higher Than Neat Epoxy. The Strength Of All Pumice/Epoxy Composites Is Found To Be 41-49% Higher Than That Of Neat Epoxy. Flexural, Tensile And Impact Properties Are In Line With The Compressive Results Observed And Are Mainly Credited With The Hard Pumice Particles To Enhance The Properties. Water Absorption Behavior Of Composites Reveals That Composites With 10 Vol. Of Pumice Reveal The Lowest Moisture Absorption As Compared With All Other Compositions. The Property Map Underlines The Importance Of Using Pumice/Epoxy Composites Over Numerous Syntactic Foam Composites, Suggesting The Ef Ective Use Of Naturally Occurring Lightweight Materials For Envisaged Applications. Morphological Study Of Compression Tested Specimens Is Evaluated By Using Scanning