Physical, tribological and viscoelastic behavior of machining wear debris powder reinforced epoxy composites

Abstract

In the field of construction and building materials, many researchers have demonstrated the utilization of fly ash in polymer composites. In a similar way, the present study also focuses on the utilization of machining waste in the field of polymer composites which is proposed for structural applications. Effective utilization of waste wear debris in polymer composites is becoming a potential concern in new materials development. The possibility of using Wirecut-EDM machining waste wear debris in the fabrication of epoxy micro-composites is demonstrated. Three different combinations of WEDM wear debris filled epoxy composites are fabricated, studied their physical, tribological and viscoelastic properties and the results are compared with pure epoxy. WEDM wear debris filled epoxy composites displayed lower wear rate in pin-on-disc test compared to unfilled epoxy. Compared to pure epoxy, the wear rate of composites is significantly reduced when the applied load is high (39.24 N). The storage modulus of 2 wt%, 4 wt% and 6 wt% composites is 22%, 28% and 32% more than the pure epoxy, respectively. The 6 wt% WEDM wear debris reinforced epoxy composite showed better shore D hardness of 93.2 than pure epoxy. In addition, WEDM wear debris reinforced epoxy composites recorded low water absorption compared to pure epoxy. FESEM was used to identify sliding direction and plastic deformation on the composite surface and EDS was used to analyse the presence of various elements in wear debris.