Effect of filler content and surface treatment on the tensile properties of glass-bead-filled polypropylene composites

The tensile properties of polypropylene (PP) filled with two A-glass beads with the same size, PP/3000 (glass bead surface pretreated with a silane coupling agent) and PP/3000U (no surface pretreatment), have been measured by using an Instron materials testing machine at room temperature, to identify the effects of the filler surface pretreatment and its content on the tensile properties of these composites. The results show that the Young's modulus E_c of the composites increases non-linearly with increasing volume fraction of glass beads φ_f, while the tensile yield strength σ_yc and tensile stress at break σ_bc of the composites decrease with an increase of φ_f, in the φ_f range 0-30%. Furthermore, the values of E_c and σ_bc of the PP/3000 system are somewhat higher than those of the PP/3000U system under the same test conditions, but this is in contrast to the tensile strain at break ε_bc and tensile fracture energy E_bc, especially at higher φ_f values. Good agreement is shown between the measured tensile strength and the predicted value by using an equation proposed in previous work. In addition, ε_bc and E_bc reach maximum values at φ_f=25% for both systems. This indicates that there is a brittle-ductile transition for the composites in tension. © 2000 Society of Chemical Industry.