Physico-mechanical and erosive wear analysis of polyester fibre-based nonwoven fabric-reinforced polymer composites

The research work aims to study the physico-mechanical and erosive wear behaviour of polyester fibre-based needle-punched nonwoven fabric mat reinforced epoxy composites. Therefore, the epoxy composites with varying proportion of polyester fibre-based needle-punched nonwoven fabric mat were fabricated and characterized for their physical, mechanical and erosive wear properties. The experimental results indicated that the increase of fibre content enhanced the physical and mechanical properties of the composites. To optimize and improve the erosive wear performance of fabricated composites, the Taguchi method was implemented. For this, L ₂₇ orthogonal array was constructed to examine the influence of the five control factors including impingement angle, impact velocity, stand-off distance, fibre content and erodent size. The experimental schedule was carried out in an air jet erosion test rig. The results indicate that the impact velocity emerges as the most significant control factor affecting the erosive wear of fabricated composites. Finally, the possible erosive wear mechanisms were studied by examining the composites eroded surfaces with scanning electron microscopy.