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Filler (Materials)

Plastic consumption uses by field.

Filler materials are particles added to resin or binders (Plastics, Composites, Concrete) that can improve specific properties, make the product cheaper or a mixture of both. The two largest segments for filler material use is elastomers and plastics. Worldwide, more than 53 million tons of fillers (with a total sum of approximately $18 billion USD) are used every year in different application areas, such as paper, plastics, rubber, paints, coatings, adhesives and sealants. As such, fillers, produced by more than 700 companies, rank among the world's major raw materials and are contained in a variety of goods for daily consumer needs. The top filler materials used are ground calcium carbonate (GCC), precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC), kaolin, talc, and carbon black. Filler materials can affect the tensile strength, toughness, heat resistance, color, clarity etc. A good example of this is the addition of talc to polypropylene. Most of the filler materials used in plastics are mineral or glass based filler materials. There are two main subgroups of filler materials being particulates and fibers. Particulates are small particulates mixed in the matrix where particle size and aspect ratio are important. Fibers are small circular strands that can be very long and have very high aspect ratios.

Types of Filler Materials:

Powder Calcium Carbonate CaCO₃ used widely as a filler material.

Calcium Carbonate (CaCO₃)

Referred to as "chalk" in the plastic industry, is derived from limestone and marble. It is used in many applications including PVC's and unsaturated polyesters. As much as 90% CaCO₃ can be used to make a composite. These additions can improve molding productivity by decreasing cooling rate. They can also increase operating temperatures of materials and provide insulation for electrical wiring.

Kaolin

Kaolin is derived from kaolinite and was discovered about 150 million years ago. If kaolinite is heated above 500°C (932°F) it changes into metakaolinite which can withstand temperature upwards of 960°C (1760°F). It is mainly used in plastics for its anti blocking characteristics as well as an infra red absorber in laser marking. It increases properties such as impact strength and heat resistance. Metakolinite is used in PVC to remove environmentally harmful ions from the matrix. Kaolin has also been shown to increase the abrasion resistance and can replace carbon black as a filler material and improve flow properties of glass reinforced substances.

Magnesium Hydroxide (talc)

Block of Magnesium Hydroxide (Talc)

Talc is most known for its use in babypowder and as a thickening agent. It is the softest mineral known and generally more expensive than calcium carbonate. It is derived from layering sheets of magnesium hydroxide with silica. In the plastic industry it is used for packaging and food application due to its long term thermal stability.

Wollastonite (CaSiO₃)

Wollastonite has an acicular crystal structure with a relatively high specific gravity and high hardness. Additions of this filler can improve moisture content, wear resistance, thermal stability and has a high dielectric strength. Wollastonite competes with platy filler substances like mica and talc and also can be used to replace glass fibers when creating thermoplastics and thermosets.

Glass:

Glass micro sphere fillers (left) and fiber fillers (right).

Glass filler materials come in a few different forms such as: glass beads, short glass fibers, long glass fibers. Even though there are many different fiber additions glass is the most used fiber in plastics by tonnage. Glass fibers are used to increase the mechanical properties of the thermoplastic or thermoset such as flexual modulus and tensile strength, There is normally not an economic benefit for adding glass as a filler material. Some disadvantages of having glass in the matrix is low surface quality, very viscus when melted, low weldability and warpage. The addition of glass beads will help with oil absorption and chemical resistance.

Nanofillers

Nanofiller must have a particle size less than 100 nanometers. They have a high aspect ratio and are mainly used as scratch resistant and fire resistant fillers. Nanofillers can be broken out into 3 different groups nanoplates, nanofibers and nanoparticles. Nanoparticles are more widely used than nanoplates and nanofibers but nanoplates are starting be become more widely used. Nanoplates are like conventional platy fillers like talc and mica except the thickness is much smaller. Advantages adding nanofillers include creating a gas barrier and flame retardant properties.

Other Fillers

Concrete filler materials include gravel, stone, sand, re-bars. Gravel, stone and sand are used to reduce the cost of concrete. Re-bars are used to strengthen the concrete.

Table Of Filler Materials and Physical Properties

Filler Type	Density (g/cm3)	Mohs Hardness	Mean Size (Microns)	Aspect Ratio/Shape
Calcium Carbonate	2.7	3-4	0.02-30	1-3 Blocky
Talc	2.7-2.8	1	0.5-20	5-40 Plate
Wollastonite	2.9	4.5	1-500	5-30 Fiber
Mica	2.8-2.9	2.5-4	5-1000	20-100 Plate
Kaolin	2.6	2	0.2-8	10-30 Plate
Silica (Precipitated)	1.9-2.1	5.5	0.005-0.1	~1 Round
Carbon Black	1.7-1.9	2-3	0.014-0.25	~1 Round
Dolomite	2.85	3.5-4	1-30	~1 Round
Barium Sulfate	4.0-4.5	3-3.5	0.1-30	~1 Round
ATH Al(OH)3	2.42	2.5-3	5-80	1-10 Plate
MDH Mg(OH)2	2.4	2.5-3	0.5-8	1-10 Plate
Diatomaceous earth	2-2.5	5.5-6	4-30	2-10 Disc
Magnetite/Hematite	5.2	5.5-6	1-50	~1 Blocky
Halloysite	2.54	2.5	1-20	5-20 Tube
Zinc Oxide	5.6	4.5	0.05-10	1 Round
Titanium Dioxide	4.23	6	0.1-10	1 Round

Mechanical Properties:

Tensile Strength

Tensile strength is the most used method to evaluate filler materials. The tensile strength of the composite can be calculated using the equation

σ_c= σ_p(1-aΦ^b_f +cΦ_f^d)

σ_c - tensile strength of composite

σ_b - tensile strength of polymer matrix

Φ_f - volume fraction of filler

a, b, c, d are constants depending of the type of filler. "a" relates to stress concentration and is based off of adhesion characteristics of the filler material. "b" is normally 0.67. c and d are constants that are inversely related to particle size.

Elastic Modulus (Young's Modulus)

The Elastic Modulus of a filled polymer can be found using the equation below:

E = E₀ (1 + 2.5Φ + 14.1Φ²)

Where:

E₀= Modulus of unfilled resin or binder

Φ = Filler concentration

Polymers with smaller additions of filler follow this equation closely. If there is a very high filler content the equation above will become less accurate. In general addition of filler materials will increase the modulus. The additions of calcium carbonate and talc will increase the elastic modulus while addition of an elastic filler materials can reduce the value slightly. The filler materials increase the modulus due to the ridged particles and good adhesion.

Impact Resistance (Toughness)

In general fillers will increase impact resistance. The contributing factors that improve impact resistance is particle size, particle shape and particle rigidity. Fibers improve impact resistance the most due to their large aspect ratio. Low hardness fillers will decrease impact strength. Particle size, within a specific range can increase the impact strengths based on the filler material.

Wear Resistance

The wear volume for plastic materials can be calculated using the equation below.

W_s=KμPDW/(EI_s)

Where:

W_s= Wear Volume

K = Proportionality constant

P = force

E = Modulus

D = Sliding distance

W = load

I_s= Interlaminar shear strength
Matrix and filler both contribute to wear resistance. In general you want to choose a filler material that will decrease the friction coefficient of the material. Particle size and shape also can affect the wear resistance. Smaller particle size will increase wear resistance because they cause less debris. silica, alumina, molybdenum disulfide and graphite powder are common fillers that improve wear resistance.

Fatigue Resistance

Filler can have a negative or positive effect on fatigue resistance depending on the filler type and shape. In general fillers create small discontinuities in the matrix. This can contribute to crack initiation point. If the filler is brittle fatigue resistance will be low, where as if the filler is very ductile the composite will be fatigue resistant. Adhesion is also a important factor influencing fatigue resistance. If stress is higher than the particles adhesion a crack will form/propagate. Fiber ends are areas where cracks initiate most often due to the high stress on fiber ends with lower adhesion. Talc is a filler that can be used to increase fatigue resistance.

Thermal Deformation

Filler materials have a large influence on thermal deformation in crystalline polymers. Amorphous polymers are negligibly affect by filler material. Glass fiber additions are used the most to deflect the most heat. Carbon fibers have been shown to do better than glass in some base materials. In general fibrous materials are better at deflecting heat than particle fillers.

Creep

Creep resistance is heavily impacted by filler materials. The equation below will show the creep strain of a filled material:

ε_c(t)/ε_m(t) = E_m/E_c

Where:

ε_c(t) = is strain of filled polymer

ε_m(t) = is strain of matrix or unfilled polymer

E_m = is Young's Modulus of matrix

E_c =is the Young's Modulus of filled polymer

The better the filler bonds with the matrix the better creep resistance will be. Lots of interactions will have a positive influence. Glass beads and fibers both have been shown to improve creep resistance in some materials. Aluminum oxide also has a positive effect on creep resistance. Water absorption will decrease the creep resistance of a filled material.

Weldability of Plastic Fillers

Additions of filler materials can drastically effect the weldability of the plastic. This also depends on the type of welding process used. For ultrasonic welding, fillers like calcium carbonate and kaolin can increase the resins ability to transmit ultrasonic waves. For electromagnetic welding and hot plate welding additions of talc and glass will reduce the weld strength by as much as 32%. The strength of the plastic after welding would decrease with increasing amount of fillers in the matrix compared to the bulk material. Use of abrasive fillers can have an effect on the tool used for welding. Abrasive fillers will degrade the welding tools faster for example, the surface of the ultrasonic horn in contact with the plastic. The best way to test the weldability of a filler material is to compare weld strength to resin strength. This can be hard to do since many filler materials contain different level of additives that change the mechanical behavior.

Instructor Comments

Expanding the Filler (materials) article (see Filler_(materials)) would be a good choice. I went ahead and assigned that topic to you. Maybe you can add some discussion on the effect of the filler material on properties and weldability.

Testing the Sandbox mode! This is Visual Editing.

Possible topics: In order of preference.

1: Filler (materials)

2: Polymer matrix composite

3: Glass-filled polymer

4: Exfoliated graphite nanoplatelets

5: Strength of glass