Tribological analysis of nano clay/epoxy/glass fiber by using Taguchi's technique

In this work, a detailed analysis was performed to profoundly study the tribological property of various nano clay (Cloisite 25A) loaded epoxy, with and without inclusion of E-glass fiber using Taguchi's technique. For this purpose, the test samples were prepared according to the ASTM standard, and the test was carried out with the assistance of pin-on-disk machine. To proceed further, L-25 orthogonal array was constructed to evaluate the tribological property with four control variables such as filler content, normal load, sliding velocity and sliding distance at each level. The results indicated that the combination of factors greatly influenced the process to achieve the minimum wear and coefficient of friction. Overall, the experiment results depicted least wear and friction coefficient for fiber reinforced laminates. In the same way, appreciable wear and friction coefficient was noted for without fiber laminates. Additionally, the SN ratio results too exhibited the similar trend. Moreover, ANOVA analysis revealed that the fiber inclusion on laminates has lesser contribution on coefficient of friction and wear when compared to without fiber laminates. At last, the microstructure behavior of the test samples was investigated with an assistance of Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) to analyze the surface morphology. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.