3.5 Specimens Preparation Equipments
 The equipment required for preparing the specimens of pure PMMA and 
SiO2/PMMA composites in sheet-form are glassy molds, glassy containers, and 
horizontal leveling platforms will be described in this section.Chapter Three Experimental Work
30
3.5.2 Glassy Containers
Ten glassy containers with dimensions of 250 mm length, 160 mm width 
and 100 mm height were made using 6 mm thickness glass sheets, adhesion 
material, and L- shaped aluminum corners of 20 x 20 mm, as shown in figure 
(3-11).The platforms are designed with 
dimensions that allow one glassy container to be placed on their surface3.5.3 Horizontal leveling platforms
Ten horizontal leveling platforms were made with dimensions of 270 mm 
length and 180 mm width using wooden boards with a thickness of 18 mm. Each 
platform is provided with four legs adjustable up and down in order to level the 
platform horizontally to ensure that one thickness of PMMA samples is 
obtained.3.5.1 Glassy Molds
Two sets of glassy molds were made using 6 mm thickness glass sheets, 
adhesion material, and L-shaped aluminum corners of 20 x 20 mm. The number 
of molds in the first group is 10, which are used to obtain samples with 
dimensions of 4 mm thickness, 100 mm width, and 130mm length.The second objective is to provide a space saturated with solvent 
steam that prevents the top layer of the sample surface from solidifying for as 
long as possible during the evaporation process, which reduces the formation of 
bubbles.