ABRASIVE WEAR BEHAVIOR OF BAMBOO

Abrasive wear of bamboo (Phyllostachys pubescens) against a free abrasive consisting of quartz sand (96.5%-wt) and bentonite (3.5%wt) was studied on a rotary-disk type abrasive wear tester (a free abrasive wear tester) and the micromorphology of the abraded surfaces were examined by scanning electron microscopy. It was observed that the bamboo fibre (vascular bundle) orientation with respect to the abrading surface had an important influence on the abrasive wear performance. The normally oriented specimens gave much higher abrasion resistance than the parallel-oriented ones, the surface layer than the inner layer, and the vascular bundle than the matrix tissue.