Effects of filler content and surface treatment on drop-weight dart impact fracture behaviour of glass bead-filled polypropylene binary composites

The effects of A-glass bead content and its surface treatment on the drop-weight dart impact fracture behaviour of the filled polypropylene (PP) binary composites at room temperature have been investigated. For the uncoated filler filled system (PP/3000U), the maximum impact force (F-max) and the crack propagation energy (E-pc) vary gently with the volume fraction (phi(f)) while for the system filled with coated fillers with silane coupling agent (PP/3000), F-max and E-pc Values reach minimum at around phi(f) = 15%. The impact fracture energy (E-dc) and crack initiation energy (E-ic) for both the composites increase with increasing phi(f) when phi(f) is greater than 15%. The influence of the filler surface treatment on E-dc and E-ic of the composites is irregular. Furthermore, the impact fracture morphology of the specimens has been observed and analyzed.