Analysis and prediction of abrasion wear properties of glass–epoxy composites filled with eggshell powder

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Eggshell is a by-product of the poultry industry and a common kitchen waste. Being rich in calcium, it can be used as a potential reinforcing agent for fabricating wear-resistant polymer composites. The present research uses the conventional hand-lay-up technique to fabricate hybrid glass-epoxy composites consisting of 0, 5, 10, 15, and 20 wt.% of eggshell powder, respectively. The prepared composites are characterized by their physical and mechanical properties. Dry-sliding wear trials on the composite samples are conducted as per Taguchi's L25 design following ASTM G99 05. The results revealed that while the density and volume fraction of voids and resistance to wear of the glass-epoxy composites increase with the eggshell content, the mechanical strength values decrease. The analysis of wear test results concluded that the control factors like filler content and sliding velocity significantly affect the wear rate, but the effect of abrasion distance and normal load is very marginal. Based on the experimental outcomes, a predictive model working on fuzzy logic is implemented to predict the specific wear rate (SWR) of the composites at a wide range of significant control factors within the test domain. It is observed that the SWR increases with sliding velocity and decreases with filler content. The analysis resulted in the optimal factor setting as sliding velocity 30 cm/s, abrasion distance 300 m, normal load 5 N, and eggshell content 20 wt.%, which are responsible for the minimum wear. Further, the mechanisms of wear loss have been studied using a scanning electron microscope.