Author(s)

Clement U. Atuanya¹, Chizoba M. Obele²

¹Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria.
²Department of Polymer and Textile Engineering, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria.

In this paper, Okhuen wood sawdust and recycled polyethylene (RLDPE) were blended and then hot-pressed to produce sawdust/recycled polyethylene composite board. The optimum processing parameters for preparing the composite such as temperature, pressing time, sawdust/RLDPE content and pressure were investigated and optimized using L₉ (3⁴) Taguchi experimental design orthogonal array. The tensile strength of the various formulations was determined. The results show that those factors made different effects on the tensile strength of the composites. The optimized process conditions obtained are as follows: press time 7 min, press temperature 180°C, saw-dust/RLDPE 60:40%, press pressure 40kg/cm². The average tensile strength of the optimized composite board was 13.991 MPa. The composite board met the standard for general purpose applications.

Okhuen Wood, Recycled Low Density Polyethylene, Taguchi Method, Tensile Properties

Atuanya, C. and Obele, C. (2016) Optimization of Process Parameter for Sawdust/Recycled Polyethylene Composites. Journal of Minerals and Materials Characterization and Engineering, 4, 270-277. doi: 10.4236/jmmce.2016.44024.