Processing and characterization of coconut shell powder filled UHMWPE

Published Date
doi:10.1016/j.msea.2003.09.065 

Author 

Siddhartha K. Pradhan ^a,,

E.S. Dwarakadasa ^b

Philip J. Reucroft ^a

aDepartment of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Kentucky, 177 Anderson Hall, Lexington, KY 40506, USA

bDepartment of Metallurgy, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012, India

Received 20 June 2003. Revised 8 September 2003. Available online 20 November 2003. 

Abstract 

A novel polymer matrix composite using coconut shell powder (CSP) as a filler material has been processed by a powder metallurgy technique. A mixture of ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) powder and CSP was compacted at 200 °C in a die-punch arrangement. The composite material remained tough when the CSP content was 20–30 vol.%, as revealed by notch impact tests and fractography studies. However, the compressive strength of the UHMWPE–CSP composite decreased rapidly beyond 20 vol.% CSP. In this paper, preliminary results are presented to throw light on mechanical properties and on some aspects of the processing method used.

Keywords

UHMWPE

Filled polymer composite

Coconut shell powder

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