Evaluation of Mechanical Properties of Filled Epoxy Composite for Improving Mould Performance – A Review

Abstract

Development of epoxy with filled particles provides an avenue for manufacturing applications in the tooling industries especially in the mould and die industries. The performance of epoxy and fillers as mould materials is greatly dependant on the production quantity and process conditions. Metal and non-metal fillers such as copper, brass, graphite and silicon carbide are blended into the epoxy matrix, altering the mechanical properties, as well as thermal conductivity of the epoxy composite. This review presents the investigation on the effect of varying composition of metal and non-metal fillers on the mechanical properties of epoxy composite. Different mixing ratios are investigated ranging from 10%, 20%, 30% and 40%, based on the weight ratio of epoxy resin, hardener and filler material. Previous studies showed that increase in amount of filler increases the hardness and compression strength of epoxy matrix. Adversely, tensile strength shows a detrimental effect with the presence of fillers, whereby increase in metal fillers reduces the tensile strength with increased composition loading from 10% to 40% of weight. Wear rate was found to reduce with the presence of aluminum, alumina and silicon carbide, hence increasing the wear resistance of the epoxy composite.