Effect of bagasse ash reinforcement on dry sliding wear behaviour of polymer matrix composites

The tribological behaviour of recycled low density polyethylene (RLDPE) polymer composites with bagasse ash particles as a reinforcement was studied using a pin-on-disc wear rig under dry sliding conditions. The influence of wear parameters like, applied load, sliding speed, sliding distance and percentage of bagasse ash fillers, on the wear rate were investigated. A plan of experiments was performed to acquire data in a controlled way. Scanning electron microscope was used to analyse the worn surface of the samples. Linear regression equation and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were employed to investigate the influence of process parameters on the wear rate of the samples. The predicted wear rate of the RLDPE and it composites were found to lie close to that experimentally observed ones. The confirmation of the experiments conducted using ANOVA to verify the optimal testing parameters show that sliding speed and applied load had significant effect on the wear rate. The results showed that the addition of bagasse ash as filler materials in RLDPE composites increase the wear resistance of the composite greatly. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.