Development And Characterization Of Coir Fibre Reinforced Composite Brake Friction Materials

• Main Authors: Maleque, Md. Abdul, A., Atiqah
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: KFUPM, Saudi Arabia 2013
• Subjects: TA401 Materials of engineering and construction; TN600 Metallurgy; TP1080 Polymers, plastics and their manufacture
• Online Access: http://irep.iium.edu.my/29575/3/maleque_Development_and_Characterization.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/29575/

This paper presents the development and characterization of new natural fibre reinforced composite brake friction materials with a view to replace the asbestos fibre material whose dust is carcinogenic and has a harmful effect to the human being. Five different laboratory formulations were prepared with varying coir fiber contents such as, 0 %, 5 %, 10 %, 15 %, and 20 % volume fraction along with binder, friction modifiers, abrasive material and solid lubricant using powder metallurgy technique for the development and characterization of new natural fibre reinforced brake friction composite materials. The properties examined are porosity, microstructural analysis, hardness, compressive strength and wear using tensiometer, SEM, hardness tester, universal testing machine and CHASE dynamometer wear machine respectively.Experimental results showed that higher density, lower porosity, higher compressive strength and lower wear weight loss were obtained from 5% volume fraction of coir fibre reinforced composite. The microstructure reveals uniform distribution of coir fiber in the matrix as well. It can be concluded that 5 % volume fraction of coir fibre showed better physio-mechanical and wear properties compared to other formulations. Hence, natural coir fiber can be a potential candidate filler material for the mass-scale fabrication of asbestos-free new brake pad without any harmful effect. Keywords: Natural fiber, Friction material, Hardness, Compressive strength and Microstructure.