Title: Mechanical and wear properties of oil palm and glass fibres reinforced polyester composites

Authors: Belal F. Yousif, N.S.M. El-Tayeb

Addresses: Multimedia University, Jalan Ayer Keroh lama, Melaka, Melaka 75450, Malaysia. ' Multimedia University, Jalan Ayer Keroh lama, Melaka, Melaka 75450, Malaysia

Abstract: In the current study, mechanical and tribological characteristics of neat polyester and its composites were evaluated. Polyester composites were based on either synthetic or natural fibres, i.e. chopped strand mat glass fibres reinforced polyester (CGRP) and oil palm fibres reinforced polyester (OPRP) composites. Abrasive wear behaviour of the selected materials was evaluated using Pin-on-Ring (POR) machine. The tests were conducted against different grads of SiC abrasive paper (400, 1000 and 1500G) and applied loads (5-20N) at constant rotational speed of 50rpm for 3 min duration. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to observe the fracture behaviour of tensile specimens and microstructure of abraded worn surfaces. As a result, oil palm fibres introduced better wear characteristics to polyester in compare to glass fibre. Meanwhile, it showed lower mechanical property than Chopped strand mat Glass fibre Reinforced Polyester (CGRP). For all composites, increasing the SiC paper grades decreases the weight loss while increasing applied loads increases the weight loss.

Keywords: chopped strand mat CGRP; glass fibre reinforced polyester; oil palm fibre reinforced polyester; abrasive wear; fibre reinforced composites; microstructure.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPTECH.2009.026380

International Journal of Precision Technology, 2009 Vol.1 No.2, pp.213 - 222

Published online: 08 Jun 2009 *

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