Investigation on wear behaviors and worn surface morphology of surface treated palmyra fruit fiber/polyester composites to appraise the effects of fiber surface treatments

Dry sliding wear behaviors and identified wear mechanisms of untreated/surface treated Palmyra fruit fiber reinforced polyester composites have been presented. The wear tests are conducted on a pin-on-disc wear tester under ambient conditions. Wear mechanisms are studied through SEM and stereo microscopic analysis on the worn surface and the counter body, respectively. From the results, it is recognized that the wear resistance of the composites is better than the untreated fiber reinforced composites and extreme in the composites made up of NaOH-treated fibers. The leading fiber failure mechanisms identified in the untreated fiber reinforced polyester composites are fiber debonding and fiber crack. Some important wear mechanisms that are identified on the worn surfaces are adhesion, surface fatigue, plastic deformation, and crazing. POLYM. COMPOS., 39:2029-2035, 2018. (c) 2016 Society of Plastics Engineers