An Investigation on Tribology Properties of Abutilon Indicum Fibre Reinforced Polymer Composites

Abstract

Abstract This research work investigates the tribological characteristics of Abutilon Indicum Fiber (AIF) reinforced composites with epoxy as the binding agent. The Abutilon Indicum fiber reinforced tribo-composites were manufactured by compression molding technique. These composites were fabricated by varying the fiber volume fraction ranging from 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% respectively and considering the fiber length as a fixed factor due to its short length. This research paper illustrates the effects of different fiber volume fractions (5,10,15 and 20%) on the tribological properties such as Specific wear rate (SWR) and Coefficient of friction (µ) of Abutilon Indicum fiber reinforced composites. Sliding wear tests were carried out under dry environment conditions with pin-on-disc wear testing machine. The experiments were performed for each tribo-composites with different combinations of testing parameters, sliding loads in the range of (10, 20 and 30 N); sliding distances (1,2 and 3 km); sliding speeds (1,2 and 3 m/s). Shore D hardness of these composites was determined. Results conclude that the addition of AIFs in these tribo-composites enhanced the tribological performance with good wear resistance in relation with the pure epoxy-based composites. Specifically, composites produced with 15% volume fraction of AIFs displayed best results with higher resistance to wear at various operating conditions. Optimal fiber volume fraction of 15% was suggested in fabrication of composites for usage of AIFs as friction material and for other commercial applications. Additionally, the surface texture of these different tested composites was analysed by scanning electron microscopic images to examine the wear patterns and mechanism.