Abrasive wear of polypropylene/Cloisite 30B/Elvaloy AC 3427 nanocomposites

Abstract

Polymer nanocomposite may be defined as a structure that is formed by infusing at least one dimension of the dispersed particles in the nanoscale range into a thermoplastic polymer matrix. Polypropylene/Cloisite-30B/Elvaloy-AC3427 nanocomposites were manufactured by melt intercalation method using a twin screw extruder. X-ray diffraction shows an intercalated structure of nanocomposite category. The investigation of tribological properties of polypropylene/Cloisite-30B/Elvaloy-AC3427 nanocomposite material has enormous practical importance to ascertain the friction and wear values. In the tribological study, the two-body abrasive wear was conducted with input parameters (Cloisite-30B, load and sliding distance) and output parameters (wear loss, specific wear rate and coefficient of friction) at 0.5 m/s sliding velocity. The detailed validation of the abrasive wear volume with mechanical properties (tensile strength, elongation at break and shore d hardness), and the dominant factors of abrasive wear by analysis of variance and worn surface morphology by Scanning Electron Microscope were reported.