Flex Performances of Epoxy Aluminium Particulate Composites

Polymers are characterised with lightness, ease of formability and resistance to chemical attack but their modulus and strength are low. Epoxy was reinforced with aluminium particles of different sizes. Bond, functional group and chemical formulae of the composite phases were examined using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffractometer. The flexural test was also conducted on the developed composites via three-point method. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed using aluminium percentage by weight (wt%) and sizes (Ps) as the predictor variables. Results indicated different chemical formulae of the composite phases.  A maximum of 124.44 % increase in flexural modulus was found at 12 wt% reinforcement addition. Probability value, 0.000 for each of wt% and Ps affirm evenly significant influence of both variables on flexural modulus of the composites. Hence, the model can be used for predicting the flexural modulus of epoxy particulate composites within and outside the scope of experiment. &nbsp