EFFECT OF MAHOGANY FILLER ON MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF REINFORCED POLYETHYLENE MATRIX

The effect of mahogany filler as an agricultural waste material used in thermoplastic polymer composite was investigated. Polyethylene (PE), as the matrix, and mahogany sawdust, as the filler, were prepared in five levels of filler loading (10, 20, 25, 30, and 35 wt %) to form thermoplastic composites. Two forms of composite samples were prepared with a recycled polyethylene and mahogany wood filler called recycled polyethylene (RPE) composite and 20 percent of virgin polyethylene with recycled polyethylene wood filler called virgin polyethylene recycled polyethylene (VRPE) composite and their mechanical properties were studied. Test results show that the tensile strengths, tensile modulus, flexural strengths, flexural modulus and hardness properties increased while impact strength, decreased with increase in filler loading for the mixed polyethylene composites but tensile strength of the recycled polyethylene composite decreased with increased filler loading. The appreciable improvement on the tensile strength indicates that mahogany can be used as a reinforced material of the mixed polyethylene composite. Again the presence of 20 percent of virgin PE has significant effects (p < 0.05) on mechanical properties of the mahogany filler ? recycled polyethylene composite.