Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

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Materials Today: Proceedings

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Experimental investigation of mechanical and tribological properties of

palm fiber composite with Al2O3 ceramic particles
A. Devaraju, P. Murali ⇑
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Adhi College of Engineering and Technology, Kanchipuram, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In the present work, a palm fiber was reinforced with epoxy resin and developed a Palm Fiber Composite
Received 20 May 2019 (PFC) by hand lay method. And then, 0.3 wt% of Al2O3 ceramic particles was included in the PFC and
Received in revised form 5 December 2019 developed the Ceramic Palm Fiber Composite (CPFC). The mechanical tests such as hardness, tensile,
Accepted 7 December 2019
impact and flexural were conducted to evaluate the mechanical properties. Tribological tests also con-
Available online xxxx
ducted to evaluate the friction and wear loss of PFC and CPFC. The mechanical and wear tests reveals that
CPFC exhibits the better performance than PFC.
Keywords:
Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Palm fiber
Aluminum oxide
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Confer-
COF ence on Materials Engineering and Characterization 2019.
Wear
Hardness

1. Introduction Moreover, many attempts have taken for inclusion of ceramic par-
ticles in the composites [3,4,12,13].
The composite is the material which is composed of two or The above mentioned research works were useful to identify
more dissimilar material on a macro scale to form a new material the research gap. Although many attempts have taken for develop-
with a property that is entirely different from the individual con- ing natural fiber ceramic composites, there is a scarcity for palm
stituents. The cost of natural fiber composite is low and light in fiber composite with ceramic particles. Moreover, very few works
weight but strength wise lower than the synthetic fiber [1]. There have published on tribological behavior of natural composites
are many natural fibers banana, coconut, sisal, palm sheath etc are [14]. Therefore, in the present study, the mechanical and tribolog-
used for natural fiber composites [2–5]. ical properties of Palm fiber composite with Al2O3 particles were
The banana and sisal fibers were successfully used to fabricate evaluated.
the natural hybrid composites. The mechanical properties of
hybrid composite can be improved by maintaining equal percent-
age of fibers [6,7]. In engineering applications, single material will
2. Materials
not be suitable to meet a particular design requirement. For exam-
ple, aerospace application needs the materials that should have
2.1. Palm fiber
lightweight, high strength and stiffness, good abrasive, impact
and corrosion resistance [8–10].
Fiber is extracted by a process known as decortications, where
Due to increasing environmental concerns, the interest to use
leaves are crushed and beaten by a rotating wheel set with blunt
renewable resources is growing continuously, especially in the
knives. Dry palm fibers are machine combed and sorted into vari-
automotive industry. A quick development in research and
ous grades. Then, the Palm fiber is dried and brushed to remove the
advancements in the field of natural fiber composites could be seen
moisture content and improver the fiber quality. Photographic
in the most recent years. Characteristic fiber-fortified structure
view of Palm tree and Palm fibre is presented in Fig. 1.
squeezed composites have been utilized for inside boards [11].
Many research works have been done on the palm strengthened
epoxy composites. It has been seen that no epoxy pitch in the fiber
lumen found in the cracked palm epoxy. Also, there is less bonding
⇑ Corresponding author. between palm and epoxy which gives feeble attachment properties
E-mail address: [email protected] (P. Murali). in the composite. Hence, an attempt has done to add ceramic par-

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Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Conference on Materials Engineering and Characterization 2019.

Please cite this article as: A. Devaraju and P. Murali, Experimental investigation of mechanical and tribological properties of palm fiber composite with
Al2O3 ceramic particles, Materials Today: Proceedings, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2019.12.044
2 A. Devaraju, P. Murali / Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

Fig. 1. Photographic view of (a) Palm tree and (b) Palm fibre.

Fig. 2. Photographic view of Magnetic stirrer.

Table 1
Properties of palm fibre [5].

Properties Palm fibre

Diameter (mm) 100–300 transparent sticky gel. The gel was allowed to mature for 24 h at
Density (g/cm3) 1.09 room temperature. The resultant gel was heat treated at 100 °C
Cellulose (%) 53 for 24 h which led to the formation of light weight porous materi-
Hemicellulose (%) 30
Pectin (%) 10
als due to the enormous gas evolution. The dried gel was, then cal-
Lignin (%) 17 cined at 1200 °C for 4 h and finally, the calcined powders were
Elongation at break (%) 6–8 crushed using mortar and pestle to get the fine homogeneous
Tensile strength (MPa) 365 dense powder. Figs. 3 and 4, shows the picture of hot air oven
Young’s modulus (GPa) 10
and bowl for synthesizing Al2O3 particles.

ticle with the palm fiber. The properties of palm fiber in the Table 1 3.3. Preparation of palm fibre composite (PFC)
[5].
Palm fibre is produced from plants. They were in irregular shape
and size. It has brought them to the required size of
2.2. Epoxy resin and aluminium oxide particles
20
20
3 cm. Even then, they were not flat; its surface had some
crusts and troughs. To make it flat, it was placed in the mold and
An epoxy resin is defined as a molecule with more than one
compressed in composite plate (Stainless Steel). Initially, Fibers
epoxy group, which can be hardened into a usable plastic. The
are orchestrated in an arbitrarily arranged way and apply the mix-
epoxy group, which is also called the glycidyl group, has through
ture of epoxyresin (Ly556) and hardener (hy991). Then a mixture
its characteristic appearance given the name to epoxy. Al2O3 cera-
of 100 ml resin, 10 ml hardener. The plates were curing for 48 h.
mic particles with higher surface area (85 m2/g) have been synthe-
And, the required size of PFC was removed from the large compos-
sized by precipitation method.
ite plate.

3. Experimental procedure

3.1. Treatment of fibre (Alkali treatment)

The alkali solution was prepared with different concentrations

of NaOH (w/v) (0%, 3%,5%, 7%, 9% and 15%) with distilled water
[5]. At first, the clean and dried Palm fibres were soaked in an alkali
solution at room temperature for 24 h hours with constant stirring
as shown in Fig. 2. The fibres were then washed several times with
distilled water containing 1% of acidic acid to neutralize the
remaining NaOH in the fibres and then dried at 100 °C for 24 h
using hot air oven.

3.2. Synthesis of aluminium oxide particles

The nanoparticles were prepared by the sol–gel technology. All

chemicals used were analytical grade. Aluminium chloride, AlCl3
(Molychem), 25% NH3 solution (Qualigen Fine Chemicals) and
polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) (Modern Industries) were used as raw
materials for the synthesis of aluminium oxide particles. 0.1 M
alcoholic AlCl3 solution was prepared, followed by addition of
25% ammonia solution. The resulting solution turned to a white
sol. This was followed by the addition of PVA (0.5 M). The solution
was stirred continuously using a magnetic stirrer until it became a Fig. 3. Photographic view of Hot air oven.

Please cite this article as: A. Devaraju and P. Murali, Experimental investigation of mechanical and tribological properties of palm fiber composite with
Al2O3 ceramic particles, Materials Today: Proceedings, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2019.12.044
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Fig. 4. Preparation of Al2O3 ceramic particle.

3.4. Preparation of Ceramic particles included palm fibre composite 4.2. Tensile test
(CPFC)
Tension test is made by holding the test specimen between
Palm Fibres are arranged in a randomly oriented manner and cross-heads. By adjusting the lower and upper cross heads the
apply the mixture of epoxy and hardener. Then a mixture of specimen can be held tightly for the test. The 100KN universal test-
100 ml resin, 10 ml hardener and 0.3% of Ceramic-Particles ing machine was used for the test. The result has been presented in
(Al2O3). The plate was curing for 48 h and removes the required Fig. 7. The tensile strength of CPFC was 92 MPa which is 15% higher
size of CPFC plate from the fabricated large composite plate. The compared to PFC value of 80 MPa. Improvement of tensile strength
fabricated Ceramic Palm Fiber Composite (CPFC) is shown in Fig. 5. is due to increase in yield stress while adding Ceramic-Particles
(Al2O3).

4. Result and discussions 4.3. Impact test

4.1. Brinell hardness test The izod impact test was conducted to study the energy absorb-
ing capacity of the composite. The impact test results of palm fiber
In the brinell test, a hardened steel ball indenter is forced into reinforced composite Ceramic-Particles (Al2O3) shows 20%
the surface of the composite plate to be tested. The diameter of increased values (92–110 J) compared to the palm fiber composite
the hardened steel indenter is 10 mm. Standard load range as in Fig. 8. The adding of Ceramic-Particles (Al2O3) improves the
between 500 g and 2000 kg in 500 kg increments. During a test, toughness of the CPFC and it helps to achieve the improved impact
the load is maintained constant for 10–15 s. From the experimental strength when compared to PFC.
results Table 2 and Fig. 6, it is observed that hardeness value of
CPFC is slightly higher than the PFC. The addition of the Ceramic- 4.4. Flexural test
Particles (Al2O3) might be increased the strength of the CPFC which
consequently improves the hardness. Three point bending flexural tests according to ASTMD790 stan-
dard with the cross head speed of 2.0 mm/min were applied on
upper and lower surface of each six replicate specimens of
Ceramic-Particles (Al2O3) and PFC the failure was calculated when
bending of specimen reaches upto corresponding critical point.
Effect of loading on the flexural strength on the prepared compos-
ites is presented in Fig. 9. It shows the flexural strength PFC and
CPFC composites are 25 MPa and 47 MPa respectively. The addition
of Ceramic-Particles (Al2O3) increases the flexural strength
(47 MPa) of palm fibre composites. Ceramic-Particles (Al2O3) dras-
tically improve the elastic modulus of CPFC and also increase its
strength. This could be the reason for high flexural strength value
for CPFC when compared to PFC.

4.5. Wear test

Photographic view of Pin on Disc tribometer is presented in

Fig. 10 which was used to conduct the triobological tests. The tri-
bological test for PFC disc vs. 316 L Stainless Steel pin Pair and CPFC
disc vs. 316 L Stainless Steel pin Pair were conducted at the con-
Fig. 5. Picture of Palm fiber composite with Al2O3 particles. stant temperature of 25 °C, sliding speed of 0.5 m/s, sliding dis-

Please cite this article as: A. Devaraju and P. Murali, Experimental investigation of mechanical and tribological properties of palm fiber composite with
Al2O3 ceramic particles, Materials Today: Proceedings, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2019.12.044
4 A. Devaraju, P. Murali / Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

Table 2
Brinell hardness testing result.

S. Specimen Load applied (p) in Diameter of the indenter (D) in Diameter of the indenter (d) in Surface area Indention A = pD BHN = 2P
p
No kg mm mm (D D2  d) A
1 CPFC 2000 5 4.5 34.23 116.85
2 PFC 2000 5 4.4 37.30 107.24

Rockwell Hardness Number 60

50

40

30

20

10

0
PFC CPFC

Fig. 6. Hardness numbers of prepared composites (RHN).

100
90
Tensile strength (Mpa)

80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
PFC CPFC

Fig. 7. Tensile strength of prepared composites.

115

110
Impact energy (J)

105

100

95

90

85

80
PFC CPFC

Fig. 8. Impact strength of prepared composites.

Please cite this article as: A. Devaraju and P. Murali, Experimental investigation of mechanical and tribological properties of palm fiber composite with
Al2O3 ceramic particles, Materials Today: Proceedings, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2019.12.044
 A. Devaraju, P. Murali / Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx 5

40
35

Flectural strength (MPa)

30
25
20
15
10
5
0
PFC CPFC

Fig. 9. Flexural strength of prepared composites.

generated on the PFC shows severe ploughing and surface damage.

Alternately, mild abrasion [15] and smooth track was generated on
the CPFC disc. Since PFC disc is a soft material when compared
316 L stainless steel pin, the slider ploughs deeply on the disc
and causes heavy damage on it. Hence, COF and wear loss of PFC
is higher than CPFC. Whereas the addition of Ceramic-Particles
(Al2O3) in the palm fiber composite improve its mechanical prop-
erties. This improved strength and hardness helped to maintain
lower COF and surface damage for CPFC.

5. Conclusion

Experimental investigation was conducted to evaluate mechan-

ical and tribological properties of plain palm fibre composite and
Ceramic-Particles (Al2O3) included palm fibre composite.

 The investigation reveals that mechanical properties such as

Fig. 10. Photographic view of Pin on disc. hardness, tensile, impact and flexural strength of CPFC have
improved significantly when compared to plain PFC.
 The tribological investigation reveals that CPFC composites
tance of 500 m and three different normal loads (2, 4 and 6 N). The
exhibits excellent resistant to wear for all selected loads.
coefficient of friction (COF) and wear loss has presented in the
 Also, CPFC composites exhibits lower COF when compared to
Fig. 11. The result revealed that CFPC exhibits lower COF and wear
plain PFC. Based on the test results; it would be recommended
loss when compared to PFC at all selected loads. The wear track
for the automobile and robotics applications.
generated on the disc is presented in the Fig. 12. The wear track

0.5 300
250
Wear rate (m3/Nm)

0.4
200
0.3
COF

150
0.2 CPFC CPFC
100
PFC PFC
0.1 50
0 0
2 4 6 2 4 6
Load (N) Load (N)

(a) (b)
Fig. 11. The coefficient of friction and wear loss of PFC disc vs. 316L Stainless Steel pin Pair and CPFC disc vs. 316L Stainless Steel pin Pair at the constant temperature of 25 °C,
sliding speed of 0.5 m/s, sliding distance of 500 m and three different normal loads.

Please cite this article as: A. Devaraju and P. Murali, Experimental investigation of mechanical and tribological properties of palm fiber composite with
Al2O3 ceramic particles, Materials Today: Proceedings, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2019.12.044
6 A. Devaraju, P. Murali / Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

Fig. 12. The Optical Microscope picture taken at the wear track generated on the (a) PFC disc and (b) CPFC disc.

CRediT authorship contribution statement [7] A. Krishnakumari, A. Devaraju, M. Saravanan, Evaluation of mechanical
properties of hybrid root fibre reinforced polymer composites, Mater. Today.
Proc. 5 (2018) 14560–14566.
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draft. P. Murali: Data curation, Conceptualization, Writing - review hybrid composites of poly (butylene succinate): characterization and
assessment of mechanical and thermal properties polym.Bull.0:3443-3462.
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wire embedded with GFRP composites, Mater. Today Proc. 5 (6) (2018) 14327–
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Please cite this article as: A. Devaraju and P. Murali, Experimental investigation of mechanical and tribological properties of palm fiber composite with
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