STUDY OF MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF CARBONIZED COCONUT SHELL POLYESTER COMPOSITE

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of carbonized coconut shell (CS) volume fractions on mechanical properties of unsaturated
polyester resin (UPR) composite. The coconut shell was carbonized at 700oC with a soaking time of three hours. Two different
particle sizes of 1.70mm (referred to as coarse particle) and 425microns (referred to as fine particle) of carbonized coconut shell
were used. Varying percentages of the coconut shell (10, 20 and 30) were used as reinforcement in the unsaturated polyester resin
to form composites and the mechanical properties like tensile strength and flexural strength of the composites examined. 1g and
o.5g of catalyst and accelerator were added respectively to the composite mixture. The flexural strength was determined using the
TUE-C- 100 Model of universal testing machine, the tensile test was performed using INSTRON 1195 testing machine.The
chemical analysis was done using Mini Pal compact energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (XRF). The results obtained showed
that elongation at break and flexural strength increased as coconut shell concentration increased. The maximum flexural strength
of the composites was found to possess153 % improvement over the virgin unsaturated polyester resin. Though, the tensile
strength of the composite increased with increase in coconut shell concentration, however, it was less than that of the virgin
unsaturated polyester resin. Optimum results of better filler/matrix interaction were mainly obtained at 20% volume fraction of
reinforcement.