Effect of surface treatment on the tribological properties of Coccinia Indica cellulosic fiber reinforced polymer composites

Abstract

The scope of this current work is to investigate, Coccinia Indica (CI) fiber which is used as a reinforcement to study and analyze the potential improvement in wear resistant property of epoxy matrix composites. For the first time, this finds applications, especially in brake pad where friction exists. Thus, it can be prepared with non-toxic and locally available cheap fibers to produce a prospective tribo-material. CI fiber reinforced with epoxy composites was prepared with untreated fiber and two different surface treatment was carried out namely 5 wt.% sodium hydroxide treatment and 3 wt.% silane treatment. The composite was prepared by hand layup and open mould technique with fiber length of 30 mm and fiber percentage of 35 wt.% for all kinds of samples. Computerized pin-on-disc machine was used to test tribological properties of the composites and the test was conducted with various parameters namely type of treatment, applied normal loads (15, 20, 25 and 30 N) and sliding speed (1.413, 1.884 and 2.356 m/s) for a constant sliding time of 15 min under dry condition. From the result, it was concluded that weight loss of NaOH and silane treated composites got reduced by 15% and 39%, while coefficient of friction was also decreased by 41% and 39% respectively. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to observe the worn surface and wreckage in the tested composite samples. As a conclusion, experiment results and microscope observation indicate that 3 wt.% silane treated fiber composites exhibited good wear resistance compared to other.

Keywords

• Polymer matrix composites
• Coccinia indica
• Natural fiber
• Surface treatment
• Tribology
• Morphology