Experimental investigations on the tribological behaviour of thermoplastic composites with partial sand replacements

Abstract

The present study investigates the effect of filler reinforcement on the tribological performances of polymer-based composite materials. The composites were developed by using waste plastic of low-density polyethylene as matrix and natural sand as fillers. The evaluation of sliding wear rate and three-body abrasive wear were carried out. The structural analysis of the developed composite surfaces verified the homogeneity of the mixture. The density and hardened were found in the ranges of 0.8404–1.5304 (g/cm3), and 4.6 – 15.8 HV respectively. The wear performance improves with the incorporation of fillers. The minimum value for the sliding wear rate and three-body abrasive wear were found to be 0.885 × 10−8 kg/meter and 0.07495 cm3 respectively for the specimen LDPE50. Whereas, the maximum values of sliding wear rate and abrasive wear were 5.311 × 10−8 kg/meter and 0.09822 cm3 respectively, for the specimen LDPE100. The study showed an irregular behaviour for wear with replacement of low-density polyethylene. Moreover, the interactions of several encountering forces makes the wear response a complex process. The structural analysis revealed that the fillers are completely encapsulated with matrix, resulting in optimum strength at 50 wt% replacement of low-density polyethylene. The study successfully provides a sustainable composite to replace the conventional composite materials and the results and discussions pave the way for future research.