Particulate‐filled polymer composite (PFPC) consisting of epoxy resin, granite aggregate and fly ash (FA), is a new polymer composite that is prepared at room temperature. Exhibiting excellent vibration damping, PFPC has attracted wide attention in the field of precision machine tools. However, the major drawbacks that have limited the use of PFPC in manufacture of precision machine tools include their low mechanical properties, high coefficient of thermal expansion and high water absorption. In this article, the effect of FA content on the mechanical properties, damping ratio, thermal expansion coefficient, and water absorption of PFPC were systematically investigated. The experimental results showed that the compressive strength and elastic modulus of the PFPC initially increased and then decreased with the increase in the FA content. Also, it was found that the flexure strength, average thermal expansion coefficient (ATEC) and the maximum water absorption of the PFPC decreased as the FA content increased. The results also showed that the damping ratio first decreased and then increased with the increasing FA content, where the damping ratio of the PFPC exhibited a slight reduction when the FA content exceeded 5%. The maximum compressive strength, maximum elastic modulus, and the best damping ratio were obtained when the FA content was 5%. Simultaneously, the PFPC with a FA content of 5% exhibited high flexural strength, low thermal expansion, and low water absorption. Thus, the optimum FA content of PFPC was found to be 5% for use in precision machine tool fabrication. POLYM. COMPOS., 39:3986–3993, 2018. © 2017 Society of Plastics Engineers

With excellent damping capacity, growing interest has been focused on polymer concrete (PC) as a novel machine tool bed material in the field of ultraprecision machining. It is widely acknowledged that the fly ash (FA) is an essential component material in reducing the curing shrinkage of PC, which can significantly affect the curing characteristic of PC. However, the effect of FA on the curing characteristic of epoxy resin is not studied in detail. In this article, the effect of FA on the curing characteristic of epoxy resin was examined by differential scanning calorimetry. Experimental results show that the peak temperature and curing rates of epoxy resin/curing agent and epoxy resin/curing agent/FA increase with the increasing heating rates, and the peak temperature and curing rates of epoxy resin/curing agent are greater than that of the epoxy resin/curing agent/FA with the same heating rates. In addition, the difference between the maximum curing rates of epoxy resin/curing agent and epoxy resin/curing agent/FA decreased with the increasing heating rates. This article can provide technical reference for curing process of PC for machine tool beds and further improve the machining accuracy.