Utilizing woven flax/hemp yarn on SS304 wiremesh reinforced flax fiber composites for tribological applications

• Optimized weave (90°) minimizes wear (1.37E -7 g/m); 45° minimizes CoF (0.2721). • RSM models accurately predict wear/friction, aiding composite design optimization. • 60° fiber orientation shows highest erosion resistance (0.0186 g mass loss). • Fiber angle affects wear: 45°/60° more deformation; 90° better resistance. The rising demand for lightweight and sustainable materials across multiple industries, such as automotive and construction has propelled the advancement of natural fiber-reinforced composites. Nonetheless, obstacles persist in enhancing their tribological performance for rigorous applications. This research utilized a central composite design to enhance the wear and friction characteristics of flax fiber reinforced integrating flax and hemp yarns with the stainless steel 304 wire mesh (FSS 304). Different loads and fiber orientations (45°, 60°, and 90°) demonstrated that a 90° orientation reduced the wear rate to 1.37 × 10⁻⁷ g/m, whereas a the 45° orientation generally yielded a lower coefficient of friction at higher loads, achieving the overall minimum CoF of 0.2721, although at 10 N, its CoF was highest among the orientations. This underscores the impact of fiber orientation on wear and friction processes. The predictive model, which used response surface methodology (RSM), accurately captured the trends in the experiments with high R² values. This showed that it was strong enough to predict wear and friction behavior. Erosion tests revealed that the 60° orientation exhibited the greatest erosion resistance, with a mass loss of 0.0186 g. These findings highlight the significance of fiber orientation in the design of natural fiber composites for specific tribological performance.