Effect of sodium hydroxide treatment on dry sliding wear behavior of Phoenix sp. fiber reinforced polymer composites

In this work, the effect of various concentrations of sodium hydroxide treatment (5, 10, 15 and 20%) on tribological properties of Phoenix sp. fiber reinforced epoxy composites was investigated for the first time and reported. The composites were fabricated by using compression molding technique with optimized fiber length (20 mm) and fiber volume fraction (40%). The shore D hardness of the untreated and treated fiber reinforced composites was determined. The dry sliding wear test was conducted using pin-on-disk wear testing machine at different loads (10, 20 and 30 N), sliding speeds (1, 2 and 3 m/s) and sliding distances (1, 2 and 3 km). The arithmetic mean surface roughness of the samples was measured before and after the wear test. The outcomes revealed that the concentration of sodium hydroxide treatment significantly influenced the hardness and tribological properties and surface roughness value of the fabricated composites. In particular, the composites reinforced with 15% treated fiber composites showed higher wear resistance at all operating conditions and was suggested for fabricating the friction composites for automobile and machine tool applications. The morphology of the worn surfaces of the samples was examined using a scanning electron microscope to study the wear mechanisms.