Effect of chemical treatment and fiber loading on physico-mechanical properties of Prosopis juliflora fiber reinforced hybrid friction composite

The physico-chemical properties of raw, alkaline, and silane treated Prosopis juliflora fiber (PJF) and the effect of chemical treatment and fiber loading on physico-mechanical properties of PJF reinforced hybrid friction composites were studied for the first time in this paper. Phenolic-based Friction Composites (FCs) were fabricated using compression moulding process with 5 and 10 weight percentage (wt%) of untreated (5UPJFC and 10UPJFC), alkaline-treated (5APJFC and 10APJFC) and silane-treated (5SPJFC and 10SPJFC) PJF by compensating with the inert filler barytes (BaSO4) in the FC formulation. The formulation composed of various types of fibers, friction additives, fillers and Epoxy modified Phenolic resin was characterized. The Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Thermo-Gravimetric (TG) analysis of the untreated and chemically treated fibers were studied. The effect of chemical treatment and fiber content on physico-mechancial properties of the developed FCs were studied based on IS 2742 and ISO 6312 standards. The outcome of this work indicates that the chemically modified PJFs increase the thermal stability and adhesion behaviour of the fiber with the matrix, which makes them useful for brake pads/linings of light and medium weight commercial vehicle.