Polymer composite for farm sprayer atomizers: test results

The long service life of a farm sprayer depends on the material, the nozzles are made of. To increase the wear resistance of polymer nozzles, dispersed fillers are incorporated into the composite. Composites for agricultural sprayer atomizers should have high chemical resistance to agrochemicals and mechanical strength, as well as low hydro-abrasive wear. In order to select the optimal polymer composite for farm sprayer atomizers, three composites based on polyoxymethylene of MASCON POM 27 brand were produced, in which glass fiber, graphite and silicon carbide with the degree of volume filling 10, 15 and 20% were used as disperse fillers. The polymer composites were tested for 14 weeks for chemical resistance to agrochemicals (herbicide “Lazurit”, fungicide “Rakurs”, insecticide “Borei-Neo”), mechanical strength and hydro-abrasive wear. MASCON POM 27 polyoxymethylene samples served as a reference. The results of mechanical tensile strength tests showed the greatest increase in the strength index at 15% filler content regardless of its type. The strength of the composite with silicon carbide increased by 30.2%, with glass fiber – by 26.8%, with graphite – by 27.4%. It was found that the chemical resistance of composites does not depend on the concentration of agrochemical solution. The experiments on hydro-abrasive wear revealed that graphite and silicon carbide are effective as fillers and can reduce wear up to 7.5 times. It is recommended to use polyoxymethylene with 15% content of silicon carbide for manufacturing farm sprayer atomizers.

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