Statistical Approach of Determining the Effect of Cenosphere on the Tribological Behaviour of Jute Reinforced Polymer Based Composite

Abstract

The current work involves the development of short jute fiber-reinforced polymer matrix composites (PMC) filled with Cenosphere. The short jute fibers were alkali-treated, and proposed composites with both untreated and alkali-treated fibers were prepared. Both kinds of composites have had their erosion wear behavior investigated. For the erosion investigation, an air jet-type test rig was used, and Taguchi's orthogonal arrays were used in the design of trials. The Taguchi technique was used to find the best parameter settings for minimizing erosion rate. The effect of input factors (angle of impact, velocity of impact, and filler percentage) on the erosion resistance of proposed composites was evaluated and statistically analyzed using ANOVA. The size of the erodent, impact velocity, impingement angle, and filler content all have a substantial impact on the wear rate of both types of composites, according to the findings. It is found that velocity of impact (p =0.089) and filler (p =0.246) have a significant impact on erosion wear rate for group A composites and standoff distance (p= 0.194) and filler content (p =0.391) had a significant impact on erosion rate for group B composites. With the addition of the Cenosphere, the erosion behaviour of the samples was significantly improved. The novelty of the present work lies in harnessing an industrial wast cenosphere into a useful filler for PMC in tribological applications.

Keywords

• jute
• cenosphere
• polymer matrix composite
• wear
• taguchi