Optimization of Mechanical Properties for Polyoxymethylene/Glass Fiber/Polytetrafluoroethylene Composites Using Response Surface Methodology
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2018
Abstract
This paper investigated the effects of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) micro-particles on mechanical properties of polyoxymethylene (POM) composites. Since PTFE is immiscible with most polymers, the surface was etched using sodium naphthalene salt in tetrahydrofuran to increase its surface energy. The effects of two variables, namely PTFE content and PTFE etch time, on the mechanical properties of the composite were studied. Experiments were designed in accordance to response surface methodology (RSM) using central composite design (CCD). Samples were prepared with different compositions of PTFE (1.7, 4.0, 9.5, 15.0, or 17.3 wt %) at different PTFE etch times (2.9, 5.0, 10.0, 15.0, or 17.1 min). Four mechanical properties of the POM/GF/PTFE composites, that is, strength, stiffness, toughness, and hardness, were characterized as a function of two studied variables. The dependency of these mechanical properties on the PTFE etch conditions was analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA). Overall desirability, D global index, was computed based on the combination of these mechanical properties for POM/GF/PTFE composites. The D global index was found to be 87.5%, when PTFE content and PTFE etch time were 6.5% and 10 min, respectively. Good correlation between experimental and RSM models was obtained using normal probability plots.
Keywords
polyoxymethylene, polytetrafluoroethylene, surface etch, RSM, optimization
Divisions
fac_eng,CHEMISTRY
Funders
Ministry of Education Malaysia: High Impact Research MoE Grant UM.C/625/1/HIR/MoE/52, FP053-2015A and PR005-2017A,University Malaya research grants PG062-2015B, RP024C-13AET, RU005D-2016, and ST012-2017, and RU018H-2016
Publication Title
Polymers
Volume
10
Issue
3
Publisher
MDPI