Publication

Abstract : In Egypt, large quantities of coarse granite wastes are produced annually during the quarrying operations of granite rocks. This waste represents a potentially useful source of material for a variety of applications such as a filler material in epoxy granite composite material. In this work a new eco-friendly composite material studied as a substitute for machine tools traditional materials, like cast iron, to produce better efficiency with lower cost. This study aims to investigate the mechanical properties of granite epoxy composite by using the local epoxy (kemapoxy 150) and the granite residues in the Egyptian quarries. The investigated processing variable was epoxy content, and the mechanical characterization ware carried out by compressive and flexural tests according to the ASTM standard method B. Commercially available, Aswan red granite was procured, crushed, and sieved to three size ranges from 0.150 to 8 mm, respectively. Epoxy ratios of 80:20, 85:15 have been used with granite aggregate size mix with small, medium, and coarse size proportions of 50:25:25 respectively for preparing the specimens with granite granular size range (0.150-8) mm. The results show that Epoxy granite composite with granite to epoxy ratio of 80:20% wt. induced the highest compressive strength (72.15 MPa) while the composite with the ratio of 85:15% wt. induced the highest flexural strength (20.1 MPa). Epoxy granite composite show superior results with respect to cement concrete, polyester concrete, and natural granite.