Understanding the Influence of Manufacturing and Material Parameters on the Mechanical Properties of Polymer-Clay Composites: An Exploratory Statistical Analysis

Abstract

<div>This paper analyses a set of previously obtained experimental results on various clay fillers added to high density polyethylene (HDPE). The composite material was compounded using an extrusion process and manufactured into tensile test samples by means of hot pressing. Various manufacturing parameters (number of extrusions, press time, sample cooling method), material (polymer grade, clay type, clay weight loading) and testing parameters (strain rate) were investigated to determine their influence on the mechanical properties of the composite system. <br></div><div>Exploratory data analysis was first employed by graphically representing the data using scatter plots to identify any main characteristics, patterns or anomalies. The statistical analysis was used to quantify the effects of the ultimate tensile strength by first conducting a one way ANOVA analysis before developing a linear model for the response variable analysis. For the percentage elongation to failure, the observations was first grouped into three groups, Brittle, Intermediate or Ductile. A linear discriminant analysis was performed to classify the groups considering a training set of 80% randomly selected observations and testing on the remaining 20%. <br></div><br>

Development of an Epoxy Matrix Hybrid Composite with Astrocaryum Aculeatum (Tucumã) Endocarp and Kaolin from the Amazonas State in Brazil

“…Due to their ease of production and their low weight and flexibility, polymers have been applied in various solutions in a wide range of industrial sectors [4]. Among the various forms of polymeric materials that are now on the market, epoxy resins stand out, and their particular characteristic of thermosetting is of industrial interest due to their properties of chemical resistance, electrical insulation, thermal and mechanical characteristics, and low contraction during their curing.…”

Statistical analysis of the effect of varying material and manufacturing conditions on the mechanical properties of high‐density polyethylene/layered double hydroxide composites

“…2,3,5,6,[8][9][10][11][12][13][14] However, material properties can start to degrade when the filler content exceeds 10 wt %. 15 The influence of the polymer-clay material system (e.g., clay and polymer type, clay loading, dispersion and the interaction between the clay and polymer) on the mechanical properties have been the subject of much research. [3][4][5]12,16 In addition to the material system, the manufacturing process has an influence on the composite morphology and consequently the thermo-mechanical properties.…”

“…In a previous study, 18 we performed a simple statistical analysis on a set of historical tensile data. In this paper, we extend this work to gain further insight into the effect of various manufacturing and composite material parameters on the mechanical properties based on historical tensile data.…”