Flexural and quasi-static compressive behavior of injection-molded walnut shell (WS)/HDPE composites

Abstract

The present study focuses on flexural and quasi-static compression behavior of high-density polyethylene (HDPE)/walnut shell (WS) composites. Flexural and quasi-static compression specimens by 20, 40 and 60 wt. % of WS are synthesized by polymer injection (PI) molding. The flexural modulus and strength are observed to increase with increase in the wt.% of WS. Compared to pure HDPE, the flexural modulus and strength increased in the range of 205-403% and 49-58% respectively. Further quasi-static compression tests are carried at 0.001, 0.01, 0.1 s-1 strain rates. Compressive modulus of HDPE/WS specimens is lower as compared to pure HDPE samples for all the strain rates. Compressive yield strength of HDPE/WS specimens shows increasing trend with increase in the strain rates. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is employed to study the fractography of the samples. 2019 Zibeline International Publishing Sdn. Bhd. All rights reserved.