Title: Influence of alkali pre-treatments on the physio-mechanical, tribological and thermal performance of hemp fibre reinforced phenolic brake friction material

Authors: Mithul Naidu; Ajit Bhosale

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sinhgad College of Engineering, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, India ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, MKSSS's Cummins College of Engineering for Women, Pune, India

Abstract: Five variants of friction bio-composites were developed - HFRC 2 to HFRC 6, by treating hemp fibres with a varying percentage of alkali concentrations from 2% to 6% (w/v) in order to improve their mechanical strength. Compression moulded test specimens were prepared. Various physical and mechanical tests were carried out by using relevant ASTM/ISO standards. Specific wear rate and coefficient of friction test was done, as per ASTM G 99, using Taguchi design of experiment technique. ANOVA was performed for deciding the contribution of factors for the results. HFRC 4 showed itself to be a better brake friction material by showing better physical, mechanical, tribological and thermal stability properties than its counterparts studied here. Microstructures were studied using scanning electron microscopy.

Keywords: hemp fibres; alkali pretreatments; physio-mechanical performance; tribological performance; Taguchi method; thermo-gravimetric analysis.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMATEI.2024.140195

International Journal of Materials Engineering Innovation, 2024 Vol.15 No.3, pp.200 - 224

Received: 05 Dec 2022
Accepted: 19 Jan 2023
Published online: 29 Jul 2024 *

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