Experimental investigation of mechanical and viscoelastic properties of Acacia Nilotica filler blended polymer composite

This research work studies the influence of Acacia Nilotica filler at 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 volume percentages on the mechanical and dynamic mechanical behavior of the polyester composite. The filler was grinded using ball milling process and mixed with polyester resin using ultra‐ sonification process. The results reveal that the addition of Acacia Nilotica filler up to 25 v/v% in the polyester resin enhances the mechanical properties of the composite material. Further, increasing the filler content above 25 v/v% drop the mechanical properties. The visco‐elastic property of the composite was performed using dynamic mechanical analyser. It showed that the addition of Acacia Nilotica up to 25v/v % increases the storage modulus and reduces the damping (tan δ) factor. An effort has been made to associate the experimental storage modulus and damping factor with various theories also was performed. POLYM. COMPOS., 39:2535–2546, 2018. © 2016 Society of Plastics Engineers