EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION AND OPTIMIZATION OF PROCESS PARAMETERS AFFECTING THE COMPRESSIVE AND FLEXURAL STRENGTH OF EPOXY CONCRETE FOR MACHINE TOOL STRUCTURE BY USING TAGUCHI METHOD

Authors

• Amitkumar C Gohil, Research scholar, Gujarat Technological University, Ahmedabad, Gujarat-India
• Hardik G. Chothani, Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering Department, Government Engineering College Bhavnagar, Gujarat, IndiaFollow

Subject Area

Material Science and Engineering

Article Type

Original Study

Abstract

The structural performance of machine tool is strongly influenced by rigidity and damping characteristic; however, conventional material such as grey cast iron and steel exhibits limitation in achieving an optimal balance between weight, strength and vibration damping. The necessitates the development of alternative material with improved performance. In this study epoxy concrete is investigated as a potential material for machine tool structure, focusing on its compressive strength and flexural strength. A systematic experimental approach based on Taguchi method (L25 orthogonal array) was employed to optimize key process parameter, including resin contain, aggregate size, sand proportion, shaking time and curing duration. Specimen prepared according to the experiment design and tested following ASTM C579-01 for compressive strength and ASTM C580-02 for flexural strength. The result identifies optimal parameter combination for enhanced performance. For compressive strength, the optimal conditions were 20% resin, 0.75 mm aggregate size, 25% sand, 20minute shaking time and 18 hours for curing. For flexural strength, the optimal parameters were 20% resin, 1mm aggregate size, 5% sand, 25 minutes shaking time and 24 hours curing. The study demonstrate that epoxy concrete exhibits significantly improved mechanical performance compared to conventional material, offering a promising alternative for high precision machine tool structure. The novelty of this work lies in the simultaneous optimization of multiple processing parameter for both compressive and flexural response using a unified experimental frame work.

Keywords

Compressive strength, Epoxy resin, Flexural strength

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Gohil, Amitkumar C and Chothani, Hardik G. (2026) "EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION AND OPTIMIZATION OF PROCESS PARAMETERS AFFECTING THE COMPRESSIVE AND FLEXURAL STRENGTH OF EPOXY CONCRETE FOR MACHINE TOOL STRUCTURE BY USING TAGUCHI METHOD," Mansoura Engineering Journal: Vol. 51 : Iss. 5 , Article 28.
Available at: https://doi.org/10.58491/2735-4202.3523