The present study portrays the development of lightweight epoxy laminates filled with boron carbide (B4C) and lead (Pb) particles through a novel layered molding and curing route. Six different laminates of single and tri-layers were prepared with varying compositions and were subjected to thermal, radiation shielding, and dielectric studies. Radiation shielding test were done using a narrow beam setup with six different sources such as Cobalt-57 (Co57-122 keV), Barium-133 (Ba133-356 keV), Sodium-22 (Na22-511 and 1275 keV), Cesium-137 (Cs137-662 keV), Manganese-54 (Mn54-840 keV), and Cobalt-60 (Co60-1170 and 1330 keV). The dielectric studies were done to understand the dielectric constant, dielectric loss factor, and AC conductivity at different temperature and frequency ranges. From the characterizations, it was found that the thermal stability of the single-layered sample increased with respect to the addition of B4C and Pb particles, which may be due to the thermally stable nature of the particles. The radiation shielding study of the samples witnessed the superior characteristics and radiation shielding ability of sample D (40% Pb) and sample E with Pb cladding at incident gamma radiation energy of 662 keV. The dielectric constant of the samples increased significantly at higher temperatures and the dielectric loss factor increased with an increase in temperature and decreased with an increase in frequency. The AC conductivity of the samples increased with respect to an increase in temperature and frequency.
Contemporarily, natural fibers are considered as one of the important reinforcement materials as a consequence of their positive environmental productive characteristics like biodegradability, eco-friendliness, and nontoxicity. Mostly, natural fibers are used as commercial products towards lightweight materials and other applications. Most of the recent research works are closely related to aquatic and other natural fibers since they are considered to replace synthetic fibers. This research work focuses on the extraction process from water hyacinth plant into various commercial products by converting the hyacinth powder and ash particles with epoxy resin through the help of a compression molding machine. No work has to be done by using water hyacinth powder and ash reinforced polymer composites. The work samples were subjected to mechanical testing, thermal, TGA, DTA, SEM, elemental mapping, and chemical analysis. Mechanical strength of powder and ash composites varies from tensile 14.94 to 18.80 MPa, 18.91 to 28.6 MPa, and flexural 25.28 to 31.56 MPa, 23.08 to 45.704 MPa, and Impact 0.05 to 0.10 J, 0.10 to 0.15 J. Based on the final results obtained from this work the water hyacinth natural plant powder and ash can be used as reinforcement materials with an epoxy resin matrix that can be used for particleboard production and also other lightweight material products.
The study aims in the development of functionally graded epoxy-based layered composites dispersed with B4C and lead particles. The development route adopted for the composites is a novel route called layered molding and curing. Various compositions of single and trilayered composites were prepared through the abovementioned route. The samples prepared were subjected to mechanical and tribological studies, and the results were reported in this article. It is found that the mechanical properties of the single-layered composites consisting of 20% lead and 20% B4C show superior characteristics than those of the samples with increased addition of lead. However, the trilayered samples with lead core showcased excellent mechanical properties. On the other hand, the wear rate and mass loss of the trilayered samples with B4C cladding show minimum wear rate than the samples with lead cladding. Furthermore, the coefficient of friction of the samples also showcases the better performance of single-layered samples with 20% lead. The worn surface analysis done through scanning electron microscopy and stereo zoom microscopy reveals the reason for the low specific wear rate of 20% lead sample as the self-hindrance of wear debris evolved during the wear study.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.