Impact of different parameters in tribological properties of enset ventricosum/ terminalia arjuna fibers /SiO2 filler incorporation

Abstract

Natural fiber composites have garnered considerable interest in recent years as sustainable substitutes for synthetic materials, owing to their environmental advantages, including renewability, biodegradability, and cost-effectiveness. Notwithstanding these benefits, there is a vital need to improve the mechanical and tribological characteristics of these composites for applications involving significant wear. This work used compression molding to make hybrid composites with natural fibers (NFs) and nano silicon dioxide (nSiO2) filler. The matrix material was epoxy, and the natural reinforcements were Enset ventricosum (EV) and Terminalia arjuna (TA) fibers. Tensile (TS), flexural (FS), and impact (IS) characteristics improved using 1:1 SiO2 filler and EV/TA fiber reinforcement. The combination of 6 wt% SiO2 and 45 wt% EV/TA improved mechanical performance. A high SiO2 filler (6 wt%) in polymer-based composites decreased Specific Wear Rate (SWR), according to Taguchi optimization. A better fiber-matrix interaction improves the mechanical characteristics of materials with fillers. This study optimized several responses using the new combined compromise solution (CoCoSo) method. Multi-criteria decision making is used here. This study introduces Method based on the Removal Effects of Criteria (MEREC) to determine objective criteria weights. Conclusions from experiments show ideal results. CoCoSo's optimization study showed that Enset ventricosum and Terminalia arjuna fiber (EV/TA) hybridization affected composites' tribological behavior.This hybrid fiber combination carried the most influence, followed by fillers. The optimal results were obtained with 6 wt% SiO2/25 wt% EV/TA Hybrid fiber, 1000 m Sliding distance (SD), 2 m/s Sliding speed (SS), and 10 N axial load (AL).