Effects of fibre content and orientation on wear properties of basalt fibre/acrylonitrile–butadiene rubber composites

Abstract

Basalt fibre (BF)/acrylonitrile–butadiene rubber (NBR) composites with various BF contents and orientations were prepared, and the curing, physical and mechanical properties and wear performance under block-on-ring abrasion conditions were evaluated. The results showed that the curing time was not obviously affected by the BFs. The addition of BFs increased the hardness but had negative influence on the tensile/tear strength of the NBR composites, especially when the BFs were oriented perpendicular to the tensile/tear direction with a high content, which should be due to the weak connection between the BFs and the rubber matrix. The coefficient of friction (COF) of the composites decreased significantly when BFs were added, whereas the content (3–30 phr) and the orientation of the fibres did not mainly affect the COF. Both parallel- and perpendicular-oriented BFs were effective at improving the wear resistance of the composites, and the former showed a better effect. With the BF content increase, the wear rate initially decreased and then remained basically stable. The COF and wear rate of the composites decreased by 27% and 35% when 12 phr BFs were added in a parallel direction. The excessive BFs, especially the perpendicularly-oriented BFs, led to fracture of the worn surface due to the abrasive grain wear caused by the crushed fibres.