Using a Fractional Experimental Design for the Study of the Tensile Strength of a Film of Polyethylene Plastic Degradable

Abstract

Abstract In this work, we developed a model, using a fractional factorial design to study the tensile strength of a film of polyethylene HDPE plastic degradable. The model includes four factors that could potentially affect the resistance of the film: linear polyethylene or low-density polyethylene LDPE, calcium carbonate added as a mineral filler to reduce the cost of the film and the film thickness; an oxo-degradable additive (prooxidant) consisting of a transition metal salt is included in small quantities (typically 2–3%) to the conventional plastic during the manufacturing process in order to get a degradable material, when disposed of in an appropriate environment. Statistical studies corresponding to the analysis of variance show that the prooxidant has no effect on the resistance of the film. The thickness is by far the most important parameter, and it is possible to reach a strength corresponding to 500% of the elongation at break of the film for an appropriate mixture by taking some precautions related to the proportion of the mineral filler. The proposed linear model is valid in the experimental field of the various factors; it leads to a good correlation between the observed and calculated values with a relative bias that does not exceed 3%.