Study on abrasive wear pattern of ethylene propylene dyne monomer (EPDM) rubber compound

Abstract

Ethylene Propylene Dyne Monomer (EPDM) rubber is an important and dominant elastomer. In the present experimental work an indigenous EPDM rubber of low, medium and high hardness values have been selected for abrasive wear study in a two-body abrasion tester ‘TR-605′ (Ducom) in dry condition. Needless to be mentioned that this indigenously developed material in the laboratory of NEL, Kolkata has no prior data related to tribological characteristics. Moreover, all rubber materials have its own complex characteristics and unlike metallic materials the overall property prediction of any viscoelastic material is quite difficult. This is the motivation and novelty consideration of conducting the present study. Four experimental factors like hardness of rubber, abrasive grade, load on the job and cycle time have been selected judiciously at three levels each for the laboratory experimentations. Optimum combinations have been obtained through Taguchi’s design of experiment (DOE) technique. The results have been validated through confirmatory trials with the optimum combination of factor levels. The predicted response being 27.92 the obtained response after additional confirmatory trial has been noticed as 28.61. Hence, the accuracy of the prediction is considerably satisfactory. The surface abrasion patterns have been characterized by SEM study (SEM: JEOL, JSM-6360, model 75 82). The abraded surfaces have been coated with a very thin film of palladium (Pd) using an ion sputtering machine (Auto Fine Coater: JEOL, JFC-1600) before SEM studies. Finally, the conclusions have been made highlighting the possible future researches in the related field.