Mechanical properties of waste mussel shell particles reinforced epoxy composites

Abstract The aim of this research is to investigate the mechanical properties of a new bio-filler particle reinforced composite reinforced by recycled waste mussel shells. To this purpose, waste mussel shells were collected from a mussel trader and recycled in two stages: coarse processing using a hammer and fine processing by means of a rod mill. A size distribution analysis was conducted for the mussel shell particles after the recycling process. According to the results of the analysis, the particles were 74 μm in mean diameter with a 60 μm standard deviation. Vacuum assisted resin infusion molding, which is generally used to produce fiber reinforced composites, was used as the method of production. Subsequently, test specimens were prepared according to related standards and the mechanical properties of the composites such as micro-hardness, tensile strength, compression strength and flexural strength were investigated experimentally. Thetests were repeated five times for each mechanical property. It was determined from these experiments, that recycled mussel shell particle reinforced epoxy composites have a micro-hardness of approximately 170 HV, 24 MPa ultimate tensile strength, 112.8 MPa ultimate compression strength and 75 MPa flexural strength. Furthermore, flexural modules of the composites were calculated at 36.72 GPa. All experimental results are presented in graphs and tables. Finally, the results determined for these new bio-filler reinforced composites were compared with results pertaining to other alternative fillers available in the literature.