Investigation of Low Density Polyethylene Polymeric Composite Using SplitSplit Plot Experimental Designs

Abstract

This study focused on the investigation of polymeric composite of low
density polyethylene and clay using split-split plot experimental
designs. The effects of process parameters such as percentage by
volume of material, material type, barrel temperature and their
interactions on the mechanical properties of the produced low
density polyethylene-clay composite using split-split plot design was
examined. The mechanical properties investigated in this study
include; proof stress, percentage elongation, tensile strength and
flexural strength. The values obtained from the evaluation of the
mechanical properties were imputed into the analytical design of the
split-split plot to obtain its numerical designs. Interactive model for
the process parameters were also developed for this study. The sum
of squares (SS) and the mean of square (MS) were calculated from
the numerical designs of split-split plot to obtain the Fisher’s ratio
(????????????????) values. The results of the calculated Fisher’s ratio at
significant value of 0.05 for the process parameters and their
interactions ranges from -80.11 to 29.95, and were presented on
analysis of variance (ANOVA) table. The results obtained shows that
these process parameters contribute significantly to the production
of low density polyethylene-clay composite for domestic and
industrial applications