Thermal and Mechanical Characterization of Date Palm Seed-Reinforced Epoxy Composites

Somia Alfatih M. S.¹, Ahmed Mallouli^{1, 2}, Saeed Al-Noman¹, Abo-ElhagagA. Selim³, Ahlam Ebrahim^{4, 5} and Mohammed Y. Abdellah^1,

¹Mechanical Engineering Department, College of Engineering, Alasala Colleges, Dammam 31483, Saudi Arabia

²National Engineering School of Sousse (ENISO), University of Sousse, Sousse 4023, Tunisia

³Egyptien Maintenance Company.( EMC), Petrolum Ministry, Cairo, Egypt

⁴Mechanical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Qena University, Qena 83523, Egypt

⁵Mechanical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Sphinx University, New Assiut, Egypt

Cite this paper:
Somia Alfatih M. S., Ahmed Mallouli, Saeed Al-Noman, Abo-ElhagagA. Selim, Ahlam Ebrahim and Mohammed Y. Abdellah. Thermal and Mechanical Characterization of Date Palm Seed-Reinforced Epoxy Composites. American Journal of Materials Science and Engineering. 2026; 14(2):34-42. doi: 10.12691/ajmse-14-2-1

Abstract

This study investigates the thermal insulation and mechanical properties of epoxy composites reinforced with date palm seed particles (DPF-Epoxy). Thermal performance was evaluated at 10W and 15W power levels against brass reference bars using nine sensor positions. The composite achieved average temperature reductions of 4.02°C (10.6%) at 10W and 10.22°C (21.5%) at 15W, with a maximum reduction of 23.2°C (44.4%) at T4 under 15W, demonstrating excellent insulation capability. Exponential decay modelling showed reliable thermal predictions with R² values of 0.706–0.997. Mechanical tests revealed different performance characteristics between the composite formulations. Sample A showed higher stiffness (Young’s modulus: 33.11 GPa; UTS: 27.36 MPa), while Sample B exhibited higher strength and ductility (UTS: 33.61 MPa; strain: 1.498), with toughness values of 14.04 and 28.57 MPa, respectively. Hollomon analysis confirmed strain-hardening behaviour with exponents of 0.379 and 0.497. The results demonstrate that date palm seed reinforcement enhances both thermal insulation and mechanical performance, offering a sustainable route for developing multifunctional epoxy composites from agricultural waste for engineering applications.

Keywords:
Date palm seed composites epoxy reinforcement thermal insulation mechanical properties sustainable materials agricultural waste valorization

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