DEVELOPMENT OF MATHEMATICAL MODEL FOR THE PREDICTION OF THE BREAKDOWN VOLTAGE OF PARTICULATE CASSAVA CORTEX/EPOXY COMPOSITES

Abstract

This research determined the dielectric strength of composite materials developed from carbonized and uncarbonized cassava cortex. Carbonized cassava cortex (CCCtx) and uncarbonized cassava cortex (UCCtx) with 150–600µm sizes were varied from 40 – 60wt% in the cassava cortex/epoxy composite. The dielectric strength was determined and the effect of carbonization on the dielectric strength was also studied. The results show that smaller particles and weight percentage have the best properties. The significant factors (main and interaction) were identified by analysis of variance technique. The Cube and contour graphs show the estimated response surface for the composite property as a function of sample condition, wt%, and particle size. The predicted dielectric values were found to be close to the experimentally observed ones. The developed mathematical model can be used for optimization of the process parameters of the electrical insulation behaviour of cassava cortex epoxy particulate composites with respect to the breakdown voltage values.