Tribological behavior of glass/sisal fiber reinforced polyester composites

Abstract

The present study addresses the tribological behavior of polyester composites reinforced with a natural fiber (sisal), a synthetic fiber (glass) and their combination (glass/sisal hybrid). The composites were obtained by compression molding with an overall fiber content of 20 or 40 vol%. The composites were rubbed against a steel counterface using a tribometer. Pure sisal composite exhibited superior wear resistance, mainly due to the formation of a concise tribofilm. It also showed the lowest coefficient of friction (CoF) because of the lubricating action of the water present in the natural fiber. Pure glass composite showed the lowest wear resistance due to the strong abrasive effect of the glass fibers. The increase in fiber content lead to an increase in CoF and its effect on wear was complex and discussed throughout the article.

Structure-properties relationships in alkaline treated rice husk reinforced thermoplastic cassava starch biocomposites

“…The second decomposition step, observed in all untreated RH but not treated RH1, located between 240C and 325C was attributed to the thermal decomposition of hemicellulose [19,40,41] and glycosidic links of cellulose [19,41]. It has been reported that the degradation of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin took place within the temperature range of 200-400C [42][43][44]. The absence of the 13 second decomposition step in treated RH1 indicated its hemicellulose-free nature, which was consistent with FTIR spectrum [45].…”

Investigations on effectiveness of transfer layer on specific wear rate and coefficient of friction during dry sliding of hybrid polymer matrix composites

“…[51] Also, the added fillers such as h-BN and PJ act as an interlocking elements to improve the adhesive strength between epoxy and fiber which helps to protect and form the strong transfer layer on the contact surface which decreases the SWR. [3,30,31,37,52] Moreover, due to the strong bonding between glass fiber and epoxy matrix the stress concentration level would be minimum at the interface, which minimize the matrix crack and fiber debonding even at higher applied load during sliding. [3,15] Therefore, the composite materials are exhibited the minimum SWR as when compared to pure epoxy as statistically evidence from Figure 6.…”

“…[1,[18][19][20][21][22][23] Later it is shifted to incorporate the natural fibers due to nontoxic, low cost, light weight, biodegradable, eco-friendly, renewability, and abundant availability. [1,3,[24][25][26][27][28][29][30] The selection of synthetic fillers plays a vital role in the formation of uniform transfer layer under tribological environment. Many of the synthetic fillers can be act as solid lubricant such as MoS 2 , h-BN, graphite due to lamellar structure.…”

“…On the other hand, the natural fibers also contributed much on tribological performance of the polymer-based composites due to enhanced interfacial adhesion, load bearing capacity, and good mechanical properties. [1,3,30,[37][38][39][40][41][42] . Kumar et al [39] developed different wt% of ramie fiber reinforced epoxy composites using hand lay-up technique for brake pad applications.…”

“…The results indicated that weight fraction of fibers significantly contributed to the wear resistance (96.11%) of the composites. Gehlen et al [30] studied the influence of pure sisal fiber in polymer composite to showcase their wear characteristics. The pure sisal fiber exhibited excellent wear resistance due to transfer layer and lowest COF due to water lubricating action as present in sisal fiber.…”