TITLE:
Effect of Fly Ash Content on Friction and Dry Sliding Wear Behavior of Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites - A Taguchi Approach
AUTHORS:
S.R. Chauhan, Anoop Kumar, I. Singh, Prashant Kumar
KEYWORDS:
Composites; Fillers; Orthogonal Array; Taguchi Technique
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Minerals and Materials Characterization and Engineering,
Vol.9 No.4,
April
20,
2010
ABSTRACT: The tribological behavior of glass fiber reinforced vinylester composites filled with fly ash
particulates were studied using a pin-on-disc wear apparatus under dry sliding conditions. The
influence of friction and wear parameters like (pv) factor, sliding distance and percentage of
filler content, on the friction and sliding wear rate were investigated. A plan of experiments,
based on the Taguchi technique, was performed to acquire data in a controlled way. An
orthogonal array and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were applied to investigate the
influence of process parameters on the coefficient of friction and sliding wear behaviour of
these composites. The Taguchi design of experiment approach eliminates the need for repeated
experiments and thus saves time, material and cost. Taguchi approach identifies not only the
significant control factors but also their interactions influencing the coefficient of friction and
specific wear rate predominantly. The results showed that the inclusion of fly ash as filler
materials in glass vinylester composites decreases the coefficient of friction and increases the
wear resistance of the glass vinylester composites significantly.