Investigation of Slurry Erosion Wear Behaviour on Coir- Filled Polypropylene Composites

Naturally occurring fibres are better and more advantageous than metals because they are lightweight, low-cost, biodegradable, recyclable, etc. Natural fiber-reinforced composite materials are becoming more and more important in engineering and technology because they have excellent qualities and properties, such as being lighter, cheaper, and more resistant to corrosion. Because of this, most industries use these composites in today's unsustainable environmental state. Slurry erosion is the degradation of material caused by the impacts of solid particles suspended in a liquid. This is influenced by many factors. The primary objective of this study is to make Polypropylene (PP) composites using coconut coir as a natural filler and then study how these composites react to slurry erosion wear. Polypropylene (PP) composites were loaded with untreated and treated coconut Coir Fibre (CF). PP composites were made with treated and untreated coconut CFs and filler materials that made up 10%, 20%, and 30% of the total weight. Maleic anhydride (2 wt.%) was used as a coupling agent to help the coconut coir fibres stick to the PP better. The slurry erosion was conducted American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) G73 standards. Pure PP and composites made of coconut coir in the slurry media that had been worn down were tested. The test was done on these composites to see how they wear down at 500 rpm, 1000 rpm and 1500 rpm with 50% slurry and at 1000 rpm for an hour with 25%, 50%, and 75% slurry. The silica sand used had a grain size of 41μm. It was found that treated coconut coir fibre-reinforced composites exhibit better resistance to wear properties compared to their untreated counterparts.