Mechanical and Thermal Properties of Pumice Powder Filled PPS Composites

Recently, it is common application to use particle materials as fillers to improve engineering properties and lower the cost of finished product. Pumice powder is cheaper than most of traditional particle fillers, however use of pumice powders as a reinforcing material in composites has not been studied in literature. Hence, in this study we have investigated the mechanical and the thermal properties of pumice powder filled polyphenylenesulphide (PPS) composites. PPS composites were reinforced with pumice powder at different loading rates (0, 1, 3.5, and 10 wt%) and they were manufactured by twin screw extruder and injection molding machine. Thermal properties were investigated by thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimeter methods. Moreover, mechanical properties such as barcol hardness, tensile strength, and modulus of samples were investigated. Thermal properties of composite samples have varied significantly depending on the loading rate. Also mechanical properties of pumice powder filled PPS composites have showed better results than pure PPS. According to test results both of mechanical and thermal properties of composites have improved with pumice powder reinforcement and it is determined that pumice powders can be used instead of traditional particle fillers.