A study on processing, characterization and erosion behavior of fish (Labeo-rohita) scale filled epoxy matrix composites

This paper describes the processing and characterization of epoxy matrix composites reinforced with short flakes obtained from the scales of a typical fresh water fish (Lobea rohita) and also reports on their erosion wear characteristics. Composites are developed by reinforcement of randomly oriented short flakes obtained from fish scales into epoxy resin. Erosion characteristics are studied with the help of an air jet type erosion test rig employing the design of experiments approach based on Taguchi's orthogonal arrays. The findings of the experiments indicate that the rate of erosion by impact of solid erodent is greatly influenced by various control factors. The experimental results are in good agreement with the values from the theoretical model. An artificial neural network (ANN) approach is also applied to predict the wear rate of the composites and compared with the theoretical results. An optimal parameter combination is determined, which leads to minimization of erosion rate. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) is performed on the measured data and S/N (signal to noise) ratios. A mathematical correlation, consistent with the experimental observations is proposed as a predictive equation for estimation of erosion rate of these composites. Finally, popular evolutionary approach known genetic algorithm (GA) is used to generalize the method of finding out optimal factor settings for minimum wear rate. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.