Simulation and experimental investigations on tribological characteristics of kenaf/thermoset composites

Simulation and experimental investigations on tribological characteristics of kenaf/thermoset composites

Over the current decade, the use of natural fibres as an alternative to synthetic fibres such as glass and carbon has been growing due to the environmental and economic advantages of natural fibres. In this study, the mechanical and tribological performance of epoxy composites based on kenaf fibres was evaluated. The interfacial adhesion between the kenaf fibres and the epoxy matrix was sudied and the effect of NaOH treatment was considered. The tensile and flexural properties of the untreated and treated kenaf fibre reinforced epoxy (KFRE) were determined, and their fracture behaviour was examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). For the tribological experiments, the adhesive wear and frictional experiments were performed considering three different orientations of the fibres with respect to the sliding of the counterface. Different operating parameters were considered, such as applied loads (5–200 N), sliding distances (0–5 km) and sliding velocity (0–3.5m/s) under dry/wet contact conditions. The prediction of the frictional performance of the composites was modelled using artificial neural networks (ANN) considering different configurations. Furthermore, the effects of sand particle size, applied load and kenaf fibre orientation on the three-body abrasion (3B-A) wear behaviour of epoxy composites subjected to high stress were investigated. ABAQUS software was used to develop the 3B-A model aiming to assist in understanding the damage features on the composite surfaces, considering different particle angles, pressures, and fibre orientations.