Influence of natural fiber addition and fiber length in determining the wear resistance of epoxy-based composites

Wear testing, in this research was conducted for compression molded flax and ramie fibers with epoxy resin matrix. The 40 wt% fiber combination was used for a fiber length (FL) of 0.5-1.5 cm while varying sliding distance (SD) ranged from 500 to 1500 m. Better results were obtained in 1000 m SD and 1 cm FL with a specific wear rate (SWR) of 13.12 x 10-5 mm3/Nm. Samples with 50 wt% natural fiber combinations were tried with different FL (0.5-1.5 cm) and sliding speed (SS) from 0.5 to 1.5 m/s. Sliding speed increased the contact between the sample and the counter steel disc, which caused high wear rate in the specimen. A high SWR was observed for the combination of SS 1.5 m/s, 0.5 cm FL due to high contact and with lower adhesion of fiber/matrix phase than in the others. Higher FL damages the compatibility of matrix/reinforcement phases, which makes the epoxy sample highly brittle with less wear resistance. The combination of 30 wt% natural fiber with FL (0.5-1.5 cm) and load 5-15 N showed high wear rate at a higher load of 15 N (31.57 x 10-5 mm3/Nm). SEM results with 50 wt% NF combination, 0.5 cm FL at 5 N load showed high deformation in the natural fiber structure compared to the 40 wt% NF combination, mainly due to the adhesion of fiber with epoxy resin which acted as a stress transfer area allowing transfer of more loads. The hybrid natural fiber composites were fabricated using compression molding method. These composites were tested for finding the specific wear rate at different sliding distance, applied load, and sliding speed conditions. A low wear rate was observed at less applied load conditions.image