Investigation of mechanical behaviours of epoxy hybrid composite materials filled with walnut shell

Our country, which has an important place in walnut production, is among the leading walnut producer countries of the world. Thousands kg of walnut shells, which are extracted as a by-product in the production and processing facilities of walnuts, are consumed as fuel and are destroyed before they can participate in production. On the contrary, the fact that the walnut shell has a cellulosic structure, its participation in production and obtaining economic value have an important place in our country, which produces plenty of walnuts. Thermoset and thermoplastic matrix polymer composites can also be used and evaluated as fillers. In recent years, many studies have been carried out in this field with the use and evaluation of natural products obtained from agro-food industry wastes or by-products, as well as positive effects such as a recyclable material and low environmental impact for ease of process. Studies on these agricultural residues produced have an increasing importance in terms of sustainable resources. In this area, it is aimed to transform the walnut shell, which is an agricultural waste, into a product that can be used in many areas such as maritime, automotive, space-aviation and defense industry by producing new and economical materials for many fields in order to contribute to the country's economy and generate added value, apart from being burned. The content of the study is to prepare and test test samples by polymer casting method using epoxy, talc and walnut shell. In order to determine whether the mixture of materials with ideal filling ratio is suitable, the test samples produced will be characterized by the FT-IR method and the mechanical values of the samples such as mechanical tests, impact test, tensile test and bending test will be carried out within the scope of future studies.