Investigation of mechanical and tribological properties of different grain size iron scale reinforced polymer composite

In this study, the change of mechanical properties by adding iron scales of different sizes into polypropylene (PP) was investigated. The iron scale was obtained from a steel production plant and adjusted to 30, 50, 90, 120, and 150 µm grain sizes. These iron scales were then added to the polymer material at a rate of 5% by weight. Wear and tensile strength tests were applied to the samples, which were formed in two different types. According to the results obtained, the wear and tensile strength of polymer material in all grain sizes were improved with an added iron scale. It was observed that the wear resistance of the composite material formed with the addition of fine-grained reinforcing element was the highest. Although grain size increased with increasing tensile strength, wear resistance did not increase. Besides, the friction coefficient was measured to be lower at increasing load. While the effective wear mechanism in pure polymer material is plastic deformation, this wear mechanism has not been found in composite materials with different grain sizes. In this study, it has been shown that iron scales have a positive effect on the mechanical properties of polymer composites.