Combined Effect of Micro Fillers on the Mechanical and Fracture Behavior of Polyamide 66 and Polypropylene (PA66/PP) Blend

The combinative effect of Micro fillers on the 80/20 wt% of Polyamide 66 and Polypropylene blend (PA66/PP) is studied. Three composites prepared by reinforcing micro fillers of Molybdenum disulphide (MoS2) (PA66/PP/MoS2), Silicon carbide (SiC) (PA66/PP/MoS2/ SiC) and Alumina (Al2O3) (PA66/PP/MoS2/SiC/Al2O3) of, having different geometric shapes. The mechanical properties studied are tensile strength, flexural strength, impact strength including the hardness of the blend micro composites as per ASTM methods. The fracture toughness at different temperatures of the composites is studied as per ASTM. Results reveal that the combined effect of hybrid micro fillers decreases the mechanical behavior of PA66/PP blend composites. The poorest mechanical properties are obtained when SiC is incorporated into the MoS2 filled blend PA66/PP composites. The appreciable increase in the mechanical properties is noticed by the addition of Al2O3 into the hybrid filled PA66/PP blend composites. Though the effect of SiC addition to PA66/PP/MoS2 composites increases the impact strength appreciably but decreasing trend is also observed due to the hybrid effect of three fillers. But the differently shaped micro fillers exhibit a synergic effect on the tensile and flexure properties of PA66/PP based composites respectively. The density of the studied blend increases due to denser nature of micro fillers. The hardness of the blend is increased by 18 % by the addition of micro fillers as against the blend PA66/PP. The increase in fracture toughness by 188 % is exhibited by the hybrid effect of micro fillers as against the neat blend at room temperature. Among these micro composites, PA66/PP/MoS2/SiC/Al2O3 has shown superior mechanical properties when compared to individual effect of the fillers on the blend. The fractured surfaces are studied by using scanning electron microscope photographs.