The effect of adding <i>Casuarina equisetifolia</i> fruit powder on the wear, impact strength, and hardness of motorcycle disc brake pad composites

Natural fiber composites are widely studied as an alternative in engineering, especially for tribological applications such as brake pads in the automotive industry. This study analyzes the effect of Casuarina equisetifolia fruit powder on wear, impact strength, and hardness of epoxy matrix brake pads. The research used a true experimental design with a posttest-only control group. The results showed that the 30% CEFP composite was almost equivalent to the control group, with a specific wear value of 8.33×10-4 mm3/kg · m, having a difference of 28.93% from commercial products, an average impact strength value of 2.08×10⁻³ J/mm², a difference of 20.19%, and an average hardness value of 13.4 HV, a difference of 36.04%, which shows potential for low-load automotive applications.