Tribological Behavior of Syngonanthus nitens Natural Fiber Reinforced Epoxy Composite

Syngonanthus nitens (SN), locally called Sikki grass, a natural fiber whose potential as a reinforcement in polymer matrix composite for tribology applications has not been explored till date. The present work aims to investigate the study of solid particle impact on erosion wear behavior of this natural fiber polymer matrix composite. The study describes the preparation of a new set of composites by hand lay-up technique, using varying weight proportions (10, 20, 30 and 40 wt. %) of the SN fiber reinforced with epoxy resin. The erosion wear behavior of composites was carried out by air jet erosion test apparatus with four different impingement angles (30°, 45°, 60° and 90°) and at four different impact velocities (48, 70, 82 and 109 m/s). The experimented composite showed semi-ductile erosion wear behavior with maximum wear rate at 45° impingement angle for lower velocities and maximum wear rate at 60° at higher velocities. The morphology and damage mechanism of eroded surfaces were examined by SEM analysis and reported in this paper.