Tribo Performance of T-bfrp Composite Subjected to Dry/Wet Contact Conditions - Natural Polymers, Biopolymers, Biomaterials, and Their Composites, Blends, and IPNs - page 305

The main reason of higher interfacial adhesion of the fiber is due to the presents
of trichomes and rough surface of the fiber after treating with 6% NaOH. This is a
promising result which has not been reported before on natural fibers such as oil palm,
sugarcane, coir and jute fibers (El-Tayeb, 2008a, 2008b; Navin and Dwivedi, 2006;
Pothan et al., 2003; Thomas et al., 2009; Yousif, 2008; Yousif and El-Tayeb, 2007a,
2008a, 2010).
Preparation of Composite
Unsaturated polyester (Butanox M-60) mixed with 1.5% of Methyl Ethyl Ketone Per-
oxide (MEKP) as catalyst was selected as a resin for the current work. Treated betelnut
fiber reinforced polyester (T-BFRP) composite was fabricated using hand lay-up tech-
nique. In composite preparation, a metal mould (100 × 100 × 12 mm) was fabricated.
The inner walls of the mould were coated with a thin layer of wax as release agent.
The first layer of the composite was built by pouring a thin layer of polyester. A pre-
pared mat was placed carefully on the polyester layer. Steel roller was used to arrange
the mat and eliminate trapped bubbles. This process was repeated until the composite
block was built containing 13 layers of fiber mats and 14 layers of polyester. The pre-
pared blocks were pressed at approximate pressure of 50 kPa in order to compress the
fiber mats and to force out the air bubbles. The blocks were cured for 24 hr and then
machined into specimens in the size of 10 × 10 × 20 mm.
triBoloGiCal eXPerimeNtal ProCedure
Figure 4 shows a schematic drawing of BOD machine which was used for the current
work. Under wet contact condition, water system was adopted at the machine. Water
was supplied to the counterface by a pump at a flow rate of 0.4 l/min. Water flowing
to the counterface was collected by a container. A filter was placed in the water flow
and cleaned from wear debris after each test. Accutec B6N-50 load cell was adapted
to the BOD load lever to measure the frictional forces between the specimens and
counterface while a weight indicator was integrated in order to capture the frictional
forces simultaneously.
Figure 4. Schematic drawing of a newly developed Block-On-Disc (BOD) tribological machine
operating under dry/wet contact conditions.