Mechanical properties of cenosphere (0-40%) filled polypropylene composite: article

The polypropylene and the composite containing cenosphere were produced and tested for the mechanical properties comprising tensile, flexural and impact strength properties. The mechanical properties analysis was conducted as accordance to ASTM 638 for tensile, ASTM 790 for flexural and ASTM D256 for impact properties. Different weight percent of cenosphere (0, 10, 20, 30 and 40 %) were utilized in the polymer composite to discover the effects of filler towards the mechanical properties of the composite. The impact testing conducted revealed a decreasing pattern for the impact strength as the weight percentage of the cenosphere is increasing. The same pattern depicted by the sample for tensile strength and elongation at break of the specimen in which the tensile properties resulting in decreasing value as the mass loading of cenosphere increases. However, the flexural strength of the sample shows fluctuation in its value with increment of cenosphere mass loading. The behavior of the mechanical characteristics of the composite is mostly due to interfacial adhesion between the filler and the polymer