Evaluating the effect of processing conditions and organoclay content on the properties of styrene-butadiene rubber/organoclay nanocomposites by response surface methodology

The Performance Modeling of Modified Asbuton and Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) Mixture Using Response Surface Methodology (RSM)

We often use the plastics daily, containing of polyethylene plastic polymers which recently can be utilized as additional material for road pavements. Several studies have attempted to find the optimum proportion of an asphalt mixture using modified Asbuton which is local bitumen abundantly deposited in Buton Island Indonesia, added with plastic waste. The optimum proportion of the asphalt mixture is influenced by many factors, such as the interactions of the material component in the asphalt mixture. To obtain the optimum proportion based a single factor, many studies employ statistical methods. This study aims to determine the optimum proportion for the asphalt mixture of the modified Asbuton with PET plastic waste by using a Response Surface Methodology (RSM). The employed RSM is the Expert Version 12 design (Stat-Ease, Inc., Minneapolis, MN, USA, 2020), in which the statistical modeling based on Box Behnken Design (BBD) and three factorial levels. The results obtained in this study show that the RSM optimization could achieve the asphalt mixtures characteristics including the stability, Marshall Quotient (MQ), Void in MIX (VIM), Void Mineral Aggregate (VMA) and density, in the level of satisfying the specification requirements of Ministry of Public Works of Indonesia. The optimum stability is at 2002.72 kg, fulfilled the minimum density of 800 kg. For the MQ, the optimal point of MQ is 500.68 kg/mm, satisfied the minimum the MQ standard minimum of 250 kg/mm. In addition, the optimal VIM is at 3.40%, satisfying the VIM specifications in the range of 3–5%. The optimal VMA response is at 21.65%, which is also satisfied the VMA specification, 15%.

Effect of Different Types of Nano-particles on the Morphology and Mechanical Properties of EPDM Foam

Foams are attractive materials because of their unique properties and applications in aerospace, transportation, isolation and engineering fields. Nanocomposites can be employed to achieve unique characteristics. It is convenient to use nano-particles for controlling the cell structure of foams and also to modify their mechanical properties. To further assess this effect, a variety geometrical shapes of nano-filler were employed in nanocomposites in order to investigate the effect of final foam micro structure and mechanical properties. Both Box-Behenken and factorial methods were chosen in this study for designing the samples. The performance of Box-Behenken experiment designs were evaluated. It was revealed that foam structure and presence of nano-particles in the structure is more effective than reinforcement of foam constitutive material.

Prediction of tensile modulus of PA-6 nanocomposites using adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system learned by the shuffled frog leaping algorithm

In this work, PA-6 nanocomposites containing different amounts of nanoclay (NC) were prepared using a corotating twin-screw extruder. In practice, it is hard task to identify the relationship between the extrusion process parameters and the tensile modulus of PA-6 nanocomposites by performing several experiments. One approach to map the relationship between the process parameters and the tensile modulus of PA-6 nanocomposites is the use of a non-linear system identification tool called the adaptive-neuro fuzzy inference system (ANFIS). In this study, to achieve high modeling accuracy and generalization capability, an efficient shuffled frog leaping (SFL) algorithm is proposed to learn all the parameters of the network. A multi-input single-output (MISO) ANFIS model is constructed and learned to predict the tensile modulus of PA-6 nanocomposites. The ANFIS model is constructed, trained and tested based on a collection of experimental data sets. Acceptable agreement has been observed between the experimental results and the predicted results by the proposed model. The statistical quality of the proposed model is significant due to its good correlation coefficient R2 values >0.98 between predicted values and experimental ones during the training and testing phase. Also, comparison results indicate the superior performance of the proposed scheme over the conventional reported methods due to its high approximation accuracy and good generalization capability.

Influence of Melt-Mixing Process Conditions on Mechanical Performance of Organoclay/Fluoroelastomer Nanocomposites

In this study, Cloisite 20A, an organically modified Montmorillonite (Mnt), has been incorporated into Fluoroelastomer (FKM) through melt intercalation technique. Since the nanocomposite preparation method and conditions, and consequently, the resulting morphology play a critical role in the final properties, the effect of different process conditions such as time, temperature, and shear rate on the vulcanization, thermal and mechanical properties have been investigated. The morphology of nanocomposites, prepared at different melt-mixing conditions, was studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD). Rheological, thermal and mechanical behaviors were investigated by moving die rheometer (MDR), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), and tensile strength test respectively. Also, the crosslinking density has been measured for the nanocomposites. The best mechanical performance of clay/FKM nanocomposites was attained by optimization of the melt-mixing conditions. We achieved the following enhancements for FKM by clay incorporation: enhancement of tensile strength up to 70 %; elongation up to 94 %; and modulus up to 405 %. Process temperature was found to have a critical role in the final properties of the nanocomposites, while mixing residual time and shear rate had a moderate effect. The most desirable properties and curing behaviors, including highest maximum torques, cure rates, crosslinking densities, fast crosslinking kinetics, high intercalation and best improved tensile strengths, resulted with specific combination of melt-mixing parameters.

Effect of mixing parameters on the mechanical and thermal properties of a nanoclay-modified epoxy resin

The present work deals with the effect of the sonication amplitude and the mixing time on the mechanical and thermal properties of an epoxy (EP) resin modified with 1 wt% nanoclay. It was confirmed that the mechanical properties of the EP matrix were dependent on the dispersion of nanoclays which in turn are affected by the mixing parameters. At short mixing times, the impact strength (IS) increased with increasing amplitude. Maximum IS and flexural properties values were obtained with ultrasonic amplitude of 260 μm and a mixing time of 10 min. The effect of mixing time was more pronounced on the deflection temperature under load than the sonication amplitude. Moreover, it was shown that longer mixing times resulted in a smoother nanocomposite fracture surface with only few cracks. The fracture surfaces of the EP nanocomposites were rough with significant plastic deformations and several microcracks with nanoparticles embedded in the polymer matrix.