A Study and Development of Frictional Materials Containing Fly Ash for Motorcycle Clutch Production

Abstract

In this work, the properties of frictional materials for motorcycle clutch with fly ash replacements of some original substances were studied aiming to reduce the raw materials cost. The fly ash was obtained from the domestic BLCP power plant in Rayong, Thailand. Two replacement schemes were studied;1) all of the original ingredients comprising the clutch was replaced with 15-35 %wt. fly ash and 2) only the original ingredients with similar physical and chemical properties were replaced with 40-55 %wt. fly ash. The mechanical properties, the friction coefficient and the wear performance were then studied. In addition, micro-structural characterizations of the contact surface and the wear debris were carried out. It was found that the fly ash replacement to a certain level increased the hardness resulting in a decrease in the surface wear. The specimens with fly ash replacement were found to have smoother surface leading to a lower static friction coefficient. The dynamic friction coefficient was altered according to the wear debris characteristics. The prototypes with the optimum amount of fly ash, i.e. giving minimum cost with superior or similar properties to the original product, for each scheme was produced and tested on a dynamometer. The prototypes for the 1st and 2nd schemes were found to offer the reduction in the wear rates of approx. 22 to 56% with a reduction in the cost of raw materials of approx. 15 and 23%, respectively. Severe damage of the prototypes was observed slightly sooner than that found for the original product.