Mechanical properties and volume dilatation of HDPE/CaCO₃ blends with and without impact modifier

Abstract

Abstract Different blends of high‐density polyethylene (HDPE) with calcium carbonate (CaCO 3 ) were mechanically tested under uniaxial tension with or without poly(ethylene‐ co ‐octene) elastomer grafted with maleic anhydride (POE g ), as an impact modifier. In some materials, the surface of the CaCO 3 was treated with an amino acid and in others the mineral particles were left untreated. The stress–strain behavior were determined at constant true strain rate by using the VidéoTraction © system. Also, the volume changes upon stretching was assessed by means of the video extensometer and correlated with X‐ray densitometry measurements. The dependence of modulus, yield stress, and cavitation is shown to depend on the relative percentage of the three constituents. In particular, the cavitation rate increases markedly with the CaCO 3 content and decreases with the POE g content. By contrast, the surface pretreatment of the CaCO 3 particles appear to be of much lesser importance. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 46:1512–1522, 2006. © 2006 Society of Plastics Engineers