Investigation to Appraise the Abrasive Water Jet Response of Curaua/Basalt Hybrid Polyester Composites

Investigation to Appraise the Abrasive Water Jet Response of Curaua/Basalt Hybrid Polyester Composites

T. Premkumar, Siva Irulappasamy, S. Rajesh, J.T. Winowlin Jappes, Sandro Campos Amico
DOI: 10.4018/IJMMME.2019010102
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Abstract

The application of natural fiber composite material in structural and interior parts of the automotive system is emerging. In this article an investigation is made to understand the effect of abrasive water jet machining parameters on surface roughness and kerf angle of the Curaua and Basalt fibers hybrid reinforced polyester composites. To identify the most effective machining parameter the MOORA and Principle Component method are used. It is found that jet pressure and feed rate are the most significant factors in influencing the surface roughness and kerf angle. Further, the effect of basalt content in the Curaua composites mechanical properties of Curaua composites, perhaps, a minor influence, is found with parameter optimization of basalt content.
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Introduction

In recent years the application of composite materials is inevitable in aerospace, and automotive and structural applications. Around 50 ~ 60% of aerospace alloys are now replaced with composite materials (Wang, Pattarachaiyakoop, & Trada, 2011) among bio-degradable is receiving much interest from the research and industrial sectors (Groover, 2004). In general thermoset and thermoplastics materials are commonly used as matrix for the composite unit. Polyester, epoxy and phenolic resins are some of the engineering polymers used in automotive and aerospace applications, similarly few thermoplastics like polypropylene, poly vinyl chloride and polyethylene also in demand with the automotive sectors (Malkapuram, Kumar, & Vuvraj, 2009). The most commonly used natural fibers are cotton, linen, jute, Curauá, coconut, hemp, coir, etc. (Siva & Winowlin Jappes, 2011). Besides, several engineering structural applications are still catered by synthetic fibers like Basalt, glass, carbon, boron and aramid. Nonetheless, recent eco-concern society greatly supports the use of vegetable fibers in engineering applications with plastics due to their excellent biodegradable properties, even though they are so critical about low mechanical properties and water absorption characteristics compared to the synthetic fibers (Dhand, Mittal, Yop, Soo-JinPark, & Hui, 2015). Synthetic fibers are good enough to withstand the moisture content and possess greater mechanical properties than the vegetable fibers and even worse in biodegradable properties.

Basalt is a semi-natural fiber invented a decade ago attracting the automotive and aerospace sectors for replacement of various full synthetic materials in place. Zhongyu Lu et al. (2016) conducted the studies on basalt fiber reinforced polymer to understand the effect of elevated temperatures on the mechanical properties. The experimental result revealed that basalt reinforced composites have better mechanical and thermal resistance property than the glass fiber reinforced composites. Soares et al. (2016) studied the mechanical behavior of basalt fibers in a basalt/polyester, authors concluded that, the modulus of newly developed basalt composite are fall between modulus of Glass fiber and Carbon fiber composites which encourages the use of Basalt fiber in engineering polymers. Pucci et al. (2017) studied the surface characterization and wetting properties of single basalt fiber, reported that size of the fiber play an important role in the property. The selection of proper size of the fiber decides the porosities present in the composites.

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