Parametric study and optimization of multiwalled carbon nanotube filled friction composite materials using taguchi method

In this article, multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) filled and lapinus-Kevlar fiber reinforced friction composite material have been fabricated and characterized for their chemical, physico-mechanical and tribological properties. The experimental results indicated that the density, hardness, impact energy, tensile, and flexural strengths decreases, whereas compressibility, void, and ash content of the friction composites increases with increase in MWCNT content. Further, Taguchi design of experiment technique was applied to study the tribological properties of the fabricated friction composites by taking four input parameter at-a-time such as composition, speed, distance and load, respectively, by using a pin on disc machine. An orthogonal array L-16 has been applied to optimize the parameter settings to get performance output such as: coefficient of friction (COF) and specific wear rate (W-R). The study reveals that the composition contributes mainly towards COF and W-R with contribution ratio (CR) of 55.16 and 30.18% followed by speed with CR of 24.16 and 29.30%, respectively. Finally, confirmation experiment has been performed to verify the experimental results and is strongly correlated with the predicted results. POLYM. COMPOS., 39:E1109-E1117. (c) 2017 Society of Plastics Engineers