MORPHOLOGY AND TENSILE PROPERTIES OF GLASS BEAD FILLED LOW-DENSITY POLYETHYLENE COMPOSITES

The mechanical properties of glass bead filled low density, polyethyle ne (LDPE) composites in tension have been investigated by, using an In stron material testing machine. It is found that with increase of the glass bend weight fraction (phi) the tensile modulus (E-c) and the ten sile yield stress (sigma(yc)) increase as a form of,nonlinear function but contrary to the elongation strain at break; the correlation betwe en E-c and phi accords,vith the logarithmic mixing rule and the relati onship between sigma(y) and the volume fraction (phi(f)) can be descri bed by means of a second order equation; the effects of the glass bend diameter oil the mechanical properties are not; large; when phi and t he bead size are suitable, the enhanced toughness effect of the filled -system, is more significant; the tensile strength of the glass bead f illed system pretreated with a coupling agent are somewhat greater tha n those of the untreated system. bl addition, the morphology of the sa mples is studied to explain the relationship between the micro-structu re and the mechanical properties of the composites. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd All rights reserved.