THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE PHYSICOMECHANICAL PROPERTIES AND THE FILLER CONCENTRATION IN THE HD POLYETHYLENE-DISPERSED FILLER SYSTEM

The relationship of 10 basic physico-mechanical properties and the concentration of the filler is investigated through narrow filling intervals of seven different composite series containing various types of HD polyethylene and different grades of kaolin. A variety of mixing techniques for the preparation of the composites is used, and testing is carried out by applying different techniques and conditions. The investigations show that, in all cases when an identical mixing technique is applied for a given series of composite formulations, the relationship linking the physico-mechanical and dynamic-mechanical G', G", and tan delta-properties with the concentration of the filler is not a monotonous curve, and displays a multiextremal character. We propose as one possible explanation that a periodic change in the free volume and the content of crystal polyethylene phase exists, as a function of the filling. The nonmonotonous character of the changes of properties is related to the proposed mechanism for the change of the physical structure of composites, which are composed of filler particles coated with n monolayers of polyethylene crystallites, when, as filling continues, periodically new types of filler particles are formed. The nonmonotonous character of the relationship between the properties and the concentration of the filler should be taken into consideration when these relationships are approximated or expressed in a mathematical-analytical form, especially when high amounts of fillers (more than 20 vol %) are used.