Experimental Determination, Modelling and Prediction of Sliding Wear of Hybrid Polymer Composites Using RSM and Fuzzy Logic

Abstract

Hybrid natural fibre reinforced polymer composites have emerged as an eco-friendly alternative to conventional structural materials due to their low cost and high strength-to-weight ratio. It is evident from the literature that polymer composites have found their place in tribological applications too. Therefore, in this research work, hybrid abaca–epoxy composites were fabricated using hand layup technique with red mud as filler. The influence of wt. % of abaca (A), wt. % of red mud (B) and particle size of red mud (C) on sliding wear of hybrid composite is established using response surface method (RSM). RSM also yields a mathematical model for optimization of sliding wear of hybrid composites. Composite with optimum values of A, B and C was found to be most suited for minimum sliding wear of hybrid composites. Further, on the basis of experimental data, a fuzzy logic model is also framed for the prediction of sliding wear of hybrid composites. Nine test case experiments were performed to validate the developed fuzzy model. It was observed from the results that developed fuzzy model can predict the sliding wear of hybrid composites with an accuracy of 87%.