Abstract
In this work an attempt had been made to hybridise the Epoxy resin by incorporating the Pterocarpus Marsupium natural resin powder derived from the Pterocarpus Marsupium tree. The mechanical, dynamic mechanical, biodegradability and thermal stability of the blended polymer was evaluated at different Pterocarpus Marsupium resin particulate loading (10, 15, 20, 25, 30 and 35 v/v %). The composite specimens were fabricated by using hand layup method. The mechanical properties such as tensile strength, flexural strength had shown significant improvement than the tensile modulus and flexural modulus due to blending, the experimental results indicated that the better properties of the blended polymer were obtained at 30% v/v Pterocarpus Marsupium resin incorporated Epoxy polymer. Soil burial test revealed that the incorporation of bio resin resulted in weight loss of the blended polymer over prolonged period of time.
Keywords: mechanical properties; epoxy resin; Pterocarpus marsupium; polymer fillers; DMA analysis