Experimental characterization of degradation of reactive resin filled with organic microparticles

Abstract

Abstract. Composite materials rank among the structural materials with a highly promising trend. The main advantage of composite materials is the synergistic effect of the individual sub-components of the system, which allows great adaptation of these materials and excellent mechanical properties. In recent years, the substitution of inorganic materials with organic materials is increasingly used in the field of composite systems. From the materials engineering point of view, this substitution makes use of very interesting properties of natural fillers. These materials are environmentally friendly and their prices are usually lower than similar synthetic fillers. However, it is also necessary to mention the negative side of organic fillers and that is their natural character. Natural fillers are so different from one another and evince greater variance than the observed values of synthetic materials. In terms of long-term applications, the degradation of natural materials can rank among limits. Natural particulate fillers can be utilized in interaction with reactive resins; they can reduce the final price while maintaining the adhesive characteristics. This paper describes the adhesive characteristics of reaction resins filled with microparticles prepared from pomace seeds of Phoenix dactylifera and it also describes the degradation of these materials. A climatic chamber was used for this experiment. Describing the degradation processes it is important to define application areas. Electron microscopy was used when evaluating the failure of bonded joints. The degradation corresponding to 35 cycles resulted in a 37 % decrease in shear strength.Keywords: composite system, mechanical properties, Phoenix dactylifera, SEM. IntroductionComposite materials are materials that combine mechanical and physical properties of their subphases, currently, the composite systems are widely used in industries due to their flexible properties [1; 2]. Particulate fillers in polymer materials are used primarily to increase the hardness, abrasion resistance or optimize the tensile characteristics [3; 4]. The presence of particles leads to optimize the shear strength while reducing the prices of the resulting joint in the area of bonded joints. Currently, the synthetic materials are increasingly replaced with natural ones. The natural fibers and particles are used in the composite systems. The particles based on wood (e.g., wood flour, flour made from bamboo) or biomass resulting from processing of certain species of plants and their fruit (Jatropha curcas) can be used as a filler for composite systems [5; 6]. Natural particles minimize the cost and optimize certain mechanical characteristics [6][7][8]. The interfacial interaction is an important factor from the resulting mechanical characteristics point of view. The chemical surface treatment is often used to optimize the reinforcement on the natural basis. The adhesive and cohesive characteristics of the composite system affect the concentration of particles and their morphology -whi...