Thermal stability analysis of nano-particulate-filled phenolic-based friction composite materials

This research article reports the thermal stability behaviour of nano-particulates (multiwalled carbon nanotube and nanoclay)-filled Kevlar-lapinus fibre-reinforced phenolic resin-based friction composite under oxygen atmosphere using thermogravimetric analysis. To analyse the damage assessment of the proposed nano-particulates-filled composites under thermal surroundings, the thermograph of the composites are generally divided into three major temperature zones (i.e. zone-1, zone 2 and zone-3). Temperature of zone-1 ranges from 30 degrees C to 350 degrees C, zone-2 from 350 degrees C to 600 degrees C and finally zone-3 from 600 degrees C to 900 degrees C. It has also been noticed that in zone-1 the friction composite shows relatively lower magnitude of thermal stability; thereafter, the decomposition rate accelerates with steep drop in thermal stability in zone-2. As heat supply continued to zone-3, the composite degradation rate gradually accelerates. The incorporation of nano-particulates indicated a remarkable improvement in the thermal stability of Kevlar/lapinus fibre combination reinforced friction composites. Furthermore, the result shows that nanoclay surpassed multiwalled carbon nanotube with regard to the thermal stability of friction formulations. This investigation confirms that nano-particulates-filled Kevlar/lapinus fibre-reinforced friction composites possess excellent potential to be used as high temperature-resistant friction materials.