Flax Fiber Flyash/Steel Reinforced Sustainable Composites in Corrosive Conditions: Mechanical, Wear, and Corrosion Properties

ABSTRACT A composite sample with 18% flax fiber flyash (FF) exhibits increased tensile strength (TS) and greater load‐transfer efficiency of the reinforcement under corrosive conditions. Similarly, increasing the biowaste filler (BW) content from 2 to 6 wt% improves bonding between the reinforcement and the polylactic acid (PLA) matrix, resulting in better tensile properties. A high applied load of 15 N in the composite samples led to better contact with EN 31 steel, resulting in a higher wear rate. The 18FF/6BW sample exhibited better wear resistance, similar to that of the 18FF/6BW/5 steel (ST) combination in the corrosive environment. A sliding distance in the range of 500–1500 m demonstrated improved wear resistance, with values between 6.1 and 6.4 × 10 −4 mm 3 /Nm, when utilizing a hybrid bio combination containing 5ST. The sliding speed at 1500 rpm resulted in greater interaction between the counter steel plate and the composite specimen, thereby increasing the wear rate. The hybrid combination with FF, ST, and BW has not been tried yet. The application of increased reinforcement at 18FF/6BW/15ST produced a coefficient of friction (CoF) reaching up to 0.43 in the hybrid sample. It can be observed that the 18FF/6BW and 18FF/6BW/5ST combinations have the lower corrosion rate (CR) (0.12 and 0.15 mpy) and better inhibition efficiency (IE) (34% and 30%) among all the combinations. The bio‐combination acted as a corrosion inhibitor, exhibiting improved corrosion properties.