Influence of Load and Sliding Velocity on Abrasive Wear of Polyester Composites Reinforced with Bio-Particulates as Filler Material

Abstract

With the escalating industry-wide requirement and based on the inherent properties, recently the polymeric composite is in more demand for tribo-application. Again, the development of eco-friendly material by inclusion of materials derived from natural resources is also becoming one of the promising areas of the interest. In this current study, an agricultural residue like pistachio shell particulates (PSP) is used as bio-filler to develop polymer matrix composites for tribo-application. The polyester matrix test specimens are fabricated with variation of PSP filler concentration ranging from 0 to 7 wt% by the hand lay-up method. The influence of filler content on both mechanical and sliding wear performances of the composites is studied. As per ASTM standard, several tests like tensile, flexural, impact and micro-hardness test have been carried out. To observe abrasive wear response of the developed composite, the dry sliding wear test has been conducted on a pin-on-disc wear tester in accordance with ASTM standard under five different normal loads, sliding distances and three distinct sliding velocities. The findings revealed that the mechanical performances of the composites are enhanced with the increase in the PSP filler concentration. Optimum properties such as hardness of 13 HV, tensile strength of 36.55 MPa, flexural strength of 43.66 MPa and impact strength of 16.36 kJ/m² are obtained at 5 wt% reinforcement of PSP filler. Again, an improvement in sliding wear resistance by 39.57% is also noticed. During the examination of worn surface by scanning electron microscope (SEM), the appearance of cracks and the creation of grooves at the lower filler loading and formation of wear debris are noticed at the higher filler loading.