Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
4TH INTERNATIONAL THALES CONGRESS ON LIFE, ENGINEERING, ARCHITECTURE AND MATHEMATICS, 20 - 22 Temmuz 2025, ss.515-521, (Tam Metin Bildiri)
In this study, mill scale which is an iron oxide-rich industrial waste was investigated as a reinforcement material in epoxy-based polymer matrix composites. To assess the effect of particle size
on impact resistance of polymer matrix, milling was applied to the mill scale powders for 5 and 10 seconds. Composite specimens were then prepared using both milled and unmilled mill scale at various
weight fractions (5%, 10%, 15%, and 20%) via the casting method and cured under controlled thermal conditions. For comparison, glass fiber-reinforced composites and an epoxy sample were also
fabricated using the same process. The addition of both milled and unmilled mill scale resulted in a reduction in the impact resistance of the epoxy. However, this reduction was less significant in
polymer matrix composites containing milled mill scale compared to those with unmilled particles. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) analyses revealed that 10-second milling significantly reduced
particle size of mill scale and improved particle dispersion within the matrix. The finer and more uniformly distributed particles led to enhanced matrix– reinforcement interfacial bonding, thereby
improving stress transfer. In contrast, unmilled mill scale particles—some exceeding ~1 mm in size— exhibited poor dispersion within the matrix. The greater reduction in impact resistance observed in
composites with unmilled mill scale can be attributed to their non-uniform distribution in the microstructure, which limits effective stress transfer between the matrix and mill scale particles.
Impact resistance values obtained with the addition of 10-second milled mill scale were found to be close to those achieved with commercially available glass fiber reinforcement.