Abrasive Wear Behaviour of Surface Modified Jute Fiber Reinforced Epoxy Composites

The present article depicts the specific wear rate of jute fiber reinforced epoxy composites with different weight percentage of fiber loading (10, 20, 30, 40 wt. %) and different chemical treatments (Alkaline and Benzoyl chloride treatment). The three-body abrasive wear analysis was studied according to ASTM-G65 using a rubber wheel abrasion apparatus (dry sand wear tester) at room temperature by varying different factors like fiber content, abrasive particle size, normal load and sliding distance. To calculate the abrasive wear behaviour of jute/epoxy composites, the design of experiments approach based on Taguchi's orthogonal array has been adopted. Steady state result shows that with the inclusion of chemical treatment in jute fiber improved wear resistance capacity of the composites. Finally, scanning electron microscope (SEM) studies revealed the morphologies worn surface of the composites such as micro-ploughing, formation of debris, micro cracking and fiber matrix de-bonding.