Experimental Studies on Mechanical Behaviour of Polylactide (PLA) Matrix—Aluminium Oxide (Al2O3) Particles Reinforced Composites

In the recent years, research focuses on metal powder reinforced polymer matrix composites that are significantly increased to develop the high strength, lightweight, high stiffness, low-cost composites and the replacement of the conventional materials for commercial applications like aircraft, automobiles and so on. Abundant researcher’s investigation is focusing on the usage of polymeric materials as matrix materials and metallic powders as reinforcement to develop various varieties of polymeric material-based composites. This research work is focused on the mechanical behaviour of aluminium oxide (Al2O3) particles which are reinforced with polylactide (PLA) in different concentration ratios (0/100, 5/95, 10/90, 15/85, 20/80, 25/75 and 30/70) by weight percentage. The required specimens with ASTM standards are taken over from the polymer-based composite panel using the water jet machining process. The mechanical properties of the well-prepared PLA-based composites are evaluated under the standard testing methods, and the test outcomes reveal that the increasing weight percentages of the Al2O3 particles with PLA are enhancing the mechanical properties of the composites significantly.