STUDIES ON THE PROPERTIES OF PINE-APPLE LEAVES POWDER FILLED LOW DENSITY POLYETHYLENE

Pulverized pine-apple leaves of particle sizes 150?m and 300?m respectively with varying (3, 6, 9, 11, 14) wt % were incorporated into Low Density Polyethylene with the aid of single screw extruder fitted with a slit die at temperature of 1300C to obtain desired and enhanced properties. Some mechanical and end-use properties of pine-apple leaves powder/low density polyethylene composite were investigation. The parameters such as tensile strength, elongation at break, tensile modulus, and hardness test were carried out on the prepared composite samples. Experimental results showed that tensile modulus and hardness increased with increase in filler loading, while tensile strength and % elongation at break decreased with increase in filler loading. Water absorption behaviour of the composites as function of time of exposure investigated increased as the time of exposure and filler content increases. The specific gravity of the composite samples as a function of filler content determined depicts significant increase as filler loading increased, whereas, flame propagation rate as function filler loading decreased with increase in filler loading.