The aluminum powder size’ effect on rice plant fiber reinforced composite to hardness, wear and coefficient of friction of brake lining

Abstract

Abstract Composite particles are composites that contain particle or powder-shaped reinforcing materials. Particles as reinforcing materials greatly determine the mechanical properties of composites because they carry the load distributed by the matrix. The particle size, shape, and material are factors that influence the mechanical properties of particle composites. The friction component material that is intended for brake lining applications is strongly influenced by the size of the particles and the direction of loading. On the other hand it is necessary to step up the particle size optimization which will affect braking performance, which includes: friction numbers, wear, friction time and friction temperature produced. Therefore this study is aimed at optimizing the particle size against hardness, wear resistance and friction of aluminum powder in rice plant fiber reinforced composite. In this study, the materials used in the experimental process were rice plant fiber, fiberglass, aluminum powder and polyester resin. After the material is processed into the composite, hardness is tested using the durometer shore hardness method, after that, wear and friction testing were conducted. The results show the smaller the size of the aluminum powder, the harder the composite. The smaller the size of aluminum powder, the less wear of the composites. The failure of the adhesive was seen in the specimen tested for wear.