Parametric optimization of Three-Body Abrasive Wear Behavior of Bidirectional and Short Kevlar Fiber Reinforced Epoxy Composites

In this article, the mechanical and three body abrasive wear behavior of Bidirectional and short Kevlar fiber reinforced epoxy composites at five different fiber loading (10wt%, 20wt%, 30wt%, 40wt% and 50wt%) have been evaluated. The mechanical properties i.e. tensile strength, flexural strength, inter-laminar-shear strength, and impact strength are performed to notice the behavior of mechanical properties with that of fiber loading. The loss in weight of the material during three body abrasion can be tested using DUCOM Tr-50 Dry Abrasion Tester. The steady state specific wear of the composites can be evaluated for normal load and sliding speed by keeping other parameters remains constant. The results show that the wear rate increases with the increase in the value of normal load for bidirectional as well as short fiber composites whereas, with the increase in the value of sliding velocity the specific wear rate decreases in both the cases. Wear characteristics and their significant factor settings are successfully analyzed using statistics based Taguchi experimental design and analysis of variance (ANOVA) respectively. Finally, the experimental wear rate results are compared with the theoretical one and the error lies with in the acceptable limit i.e for bidirectional Kevlar fiber composites the error values are within 8% and 5% for that of short fiber composites. The SEM micrographs studies reveal the dynamics of three-body abrasive wear and underlying micromechanisms that serve as determinant for wear performance of such composites.