Influence of benzoyl chloride treatment on the tribological characteristics of Cyperus pangorei fibers based non-asbestos brake friction composites

Natural fibers are widely used in the various lightweight and medium load applications due to their vital advantages. Cyperus pangorei is abundantly found on the river banks. The current study deals with the usage of Cyperus pangorei fibers that were retted using a manual retting process in the brake pad formulation. The fibers retted were treated with benzoyl chloride to enhance adhesion characteristics. The benzoyl chloride treated and untreated Cyperus pangorei fibers were used in the development of brake pads with other ingredients constant as per industrial practice. The developed brake pads were analyzed for its physical, chemical, thermal and mechanical properties as per industrial standards. The tribological performance of the brake pads was analyzed using a pin-on-disc tribometer as per ASTM G-99-05. It was proved that benzoyl chloride treated Cyperus pangorei fibers based brake pads showed excellent performance characteristics compared to untreated one due to better bonding with matrix causing good contact plateaus formations as confirmed from Scanning Electron Microscopy.