Applicability of cellulosic-based Polyalthia longigolia seed filler reinforced vinyl ester biocomposites on tribological performance

The focus of this work was to analyze the effect of weight percentage (wt.%) of Polyalthia longigolia seed filler (PLSF) on the wear responses (wear loss and coefficient of friction) of the vinyl ester (VE) matrix composites, using signal-to-noise (SN) ratio and analysis of variance (ANOVA) methods. The Polyalthia longigolia seed filler/vinyl ester (PLSF-VE) composites were produced by compression molding (CM) technique. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis showed that the PLSF content was homogeneously distributed in the matrix. Pin on disc (POD) wear tester was employed to carry out the experiments. Both SN ratio and ANOVA were performed to determine the process parameters that exhibited lower wear responses. The wear of the composite was minimized by optimizing the four diverse process factors: load, P (N), sliding speed, N (rpm) and filler content (wt.%), based on Taguchi's L9 orthogonal array. The process parameters at which minimum wear loss (WL) occurred were identified with 25 wt.% sample at 10 N and 300 rpm. Also, the process parameters for minimum coefficient of friction (COF) were observed with 25 wt.% sample at 5 N and 700 rpm. From the ANOVA results obtained, it was evident that P mostly influenced the WL and COF of the PLSF-VE composites during POD wear testing. This kind of lightweight composite can be a suitable alternative for small scale loading conditions, such as brake pads and clutch plates in the automobile industry.