Effect of pistachio shell particles on mechanical and erosion wear performance of hybrid kenaf/glass polyester composites

The concern for the environmental hazards due to rapid utilization of non-biodegradable resources has persuaded the researchers to develop eco-friendly materials with noble categories of plant-based fibers and fillers. In view of this content, an effort has been initiated in the present work to explore the retrospective effect of PSP (Pistachio shell particles) on both mechanical as well as erosive wear performances of KG (kenaf/glass/kenaf/glass) hybrid polyester laminated composite. The KG laminate with different filler concentration, that is, 0 wt%, 1 wt%, 3 wt%, and 5 wt% were fabricated by using hand-lay-up technique and the mechanical properties of these laminates were determined by performing tensile, flexural and impact tests as per ASTM standard. A higher tensile value of 127.35 MPa with modulus of 7.658 GPa and hardness of 21.35 HV was obtained at 5 wt% reinforcement of PSP filler whereas 3 wt% filler reinforcement responded an optimum flexural strength of 112.42 MPa with modulus of 5.214 GPa and impact strength of 75.59 KJ/m2. To evaluate the wear performance of this laminates against high-speed solid particle, erosion wear test was carried out at different striking velocity and impingement angles. A noticeable reduction of 12.63% in wear rate was found due to increase with concentration PSP filler from 0% to 5 wt%. Further, the eta (erosion efficiency) was also found to be limited within the range of 5.94% to 32.98%. From micrographic analysis of the fracture surface, micro-ploughing and micro-cutting actions were found to be most predominant primary wear mechanisms.