A commercial vinyl ester resin supplied by Hetron Chemical Pty. was reinforced with varying percentages by weight of sawdust.\r\nThe sawdust particles were sieved into 3 different sizes, which were <300 Ã?µm, 300ââ?¬â??425 Ã?µm, and 425ââ?¬â??1180 Ã?µm, respectively, with a\r\nview to increase its fracture toughness for civil and structural applications. The sawdust used varied from 0% w/t to 15% w/t in\r\nstep of 5% w/t. For higher w/t% of sawdust, the mixture would be too sticky to be mixed and cast. The cast composites were cured\r\nin ambient conditions and then postcured in microwave irradiation. They were then tested for fracture toughness using short\r\nbar tests. The values of fracture toughness of the composites increased with increasing particulate size, and this is due to the size\r\ndistribution of the filler. It was found that the optimum amount of sawdust (425ââ?¬â??1180 Ã?µm) was 15% w/t, with which the increase\r\nin fracture toughness was 126% as compared to neat resin and the reduction in cost was 15%. Furthermore, the optimum amount\r\nof sawdust (300ââ?¬â??425 Ã?µm) was also 15% w/t, with which the increase in fracture toughness was 28.3% as compared to neat resin\r\nand the reduction in cost was again 15%.
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