Abstract
The scratch performance of natural rubber (NR) and fibre-reinforced NR was investigated using a scratch test with acoustic emission (AE). Both maximum penetration depth and maximum tangential force were characterised by two procedures. Procedure 1 applied the corner of a steel cube at face leading orientation. Procedure 2 applied a steel pyramid indenter with a spherical tip at the edge leading orientation. AE was adopted in Procedure 2 for evaluation of cutting damage mode that varied from ploughing/tearing the matrix to cutting both the matrix and fabric. The scratched regions of all specimens were observed using an optical microscope to estimate the damage level and examine damage mechanisms. The results show that scratch resistance improved as fibre content and fibre stiffness increased. The maximum tangential force depended on the damage modes. Two or more fabric layers could further increase penetration resistance, but the damage level is more serious in most cases.
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