Effect of Egg Shell Composition on the Flexural and Hardness Properties of Epoxy Resin/ Egg Shell Particles Composite

The effect of calcined egg shell particles on the mechanical properties of epoxy resin had been studied. The egg shell was sun dried for 3 days and calcined at 800oC in an electrically fired furnace model KGVB. The calcined egg shell was ground in a locally fabricated pulverized machine and sieved using Sieve Model 567924/173281Endecotts in accordance with ASTM standard. Microwave digestion system and an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) were used to determine the chemical composition of the egg shell. The egg shell particles were mixed with epoxy resin to develop a composite casted by open mold casting. The flexural and hardness properties of the developed composite was determined using Universal Testing Machine model TUE-C-100, observing ASTM D790 standard and Rockwell Scale K hardness testing machine according to ASTM D785 respectively. The results showed that the calcined egg shell contained mostly CaO. Maximum flexural strength of 12MPa was observed at 25 wt. % egg shell particles. The highest hardness value of HRN 393 was observed at 20 wt. % egg shell particles. The produced composites may be applied where moderate strength is required.