Mechanical Characterization and Solid Particle Erosion Response of Particulate Filled Jute-Epoxy Composites

Abstract

Fiber reinforced polymer composites are now considered as an important class of engineering materials. This thesis depicts the processing and mechanical characterization of a new class of multi-phase composites consisting of epoxy resin reinforced with jute fiber and filled with silicon carbide (SiC) particulates. The SiC used as filler material in this work has been prepared from rice husk through plasma processing technique. The effect of filler in modifying the physical and mechanical properties of jute-epoxy composites has been studied. Rice husk is considered as an agricultural waste and it is thus interesting to explore the utilization potential of SiC derived from rice husk in composite making. Moreover, being cheap, inexhaustible and easily available, it would hopefully provide a cost effective solution to composite manufacturers.
With the increased use of these materials in erosive work environments, it has become extremely important to investigate their erosion characteristics intensively. In view of this, erosion trials are carried out at various test conditions. For this, an air jet type erosion test rig and Taguchi’s orthogonal arrays are used. Significant control factors influencing the erosion wear rate are identified. This thesis also presents the development of a theoretical model for estimating erosion damage caused by solid particle impact on the composites. The model is based upon conservation of particle kinetic energy and relates the erosion rate with some of the material properties and test conditions. The theoretical results are compared and are found to be in good agreement with the experimental values.
The research reported in this thesis reveals that successful fabrication of multi-component hybrid jute-epoxy composites with reinforcement of SiC derived from rice husk by plasma processing route is possible. Incorporation of these SiC fillers modifies the micro-hardness, density, tensile, flexural and inter-laminar shear strengths of the composites. Hence, while fabricating a composite of specific requirements, there is a need for the choice of appropriate filler material and for optimizing its content in the composite system. It is demonstrated that if supported by an appropriate magnitude of erosion efficiency, the proposed theoretical model can perform well for epoxy based hybrid composites for normal as well as oblique impacts. The presence of particulate fillers in these composites improves their erosion wear resistance and this improvement depends on the weight content of the filler. Erosion characteristics of these composites have been successfully analyzed using Taguchi experimental design. Significant control factors affecting the erosion rate have been identified through successful implementation of this technique. Impact velocity, fiber/filler content and impingement angle in declining sequence are found to be significant for minimizing the erosion rate of all the composites. Erodent size is identified as the least influencing control factor for erosion rate.