Effect of temperature and filler concentration on the dynamic characteristics of polyethylene-based nanocomposites

We study experimentally the influence of temperature and filler content on the dynamic modulus of a polyethylene-based nanocomposite. The content of a filler consisting of clay nanoparticles varies from 0% to 15% with a step of 5%. The temperature ranges from -50 to +50 °C. The frequency of cyclic loading is 1 Hz. During the experiments, the dependence of the dynamic modulus of elasticity and the loss modulus on the above parameters has been determined. Apart from the experimental studies, the properties of polyethylene have been investigated in the framework of the structural-phenomenological approach using the Kelvin-Voigt mechanical model. Numerical simulations indicate that the theoretical and experimental results for the dynamic modulus of elasticity agree well, and those for the loss modulus agree satisfactorily. It has been found that at a certain frequency-amplitude vibration regime polyethylene behaves as a viscoelastic material