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Damage mechanics of polypropylene‐based composites using progressive‐ and constant‐load scratching
Author(s) -
S. Ariharan,
Maurya Rita,
Sharma Rajeev Kumar,
Sharma Vinod Kumar,
Lohia Siddarth,
Balani Kantesh
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
polymer composites
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.577
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1548-0569
pISSN - 0272-8397
DOI - 10.1002/pc.25680
Subject(s) - scratching , materials science , composite material , polypropylene , composite number , tribology , scratch , toughness , reinforcement , husk , botany , biology
Polypropylene (PP)‐based composites with reinforcements of CaCO 3 and rice husk ash (RHA, agricultural waste) are extensively used in textile industry and manufacturing of plastic yarns, tapes, etc. Tribological properties of the PP‐CaCO 3 ‐RHA based composite are studied using constant‐ and progressive‐load scratching. The progressive load scratching depicts a transient‐state interaction, whereas, constant load scratching depicts steady‐state of wear, hence, both modes of scratching are reported to highlight the aspects of damage initiation and damage tolerance on PP‐based composites. The average scratch hardness and toughness of the PP composites improved with reinforcement in both modes of scratching. The reinforcement of 20 wt% RHA and 10 wt% RHA with 10 wt% CaCO 3 in PP matrix, marginally improves (0.8%‐1.6%) the wear resistance (wear rate, W R of 12.1‐12.2 mm 3 N −1 m −1 ) during the progressive load scratching compared to that of pure PP (12.3 mm 3 N −1 m −1 ). Poor wear resistance ( W R = 12.6 mm 3 N −1 m −1 ) with the addition of 20 wt% CaCO 3 in PP matrix during the progressive wear is attributed to poor adhesion (adhesion factor: 0.61) of CaCO 3 with PP. Also, an over estimation (3.4‐4.6 times) of wear rate is attributed to high recovery (0.63‐0.77) and the plastic deformation ahead of the scratch tip in the PP‐based composite with viscoelastic nature. High‐wear rate with CaCO 3 agglomerate with poor sinterability at 200 °C can be substituted with the strong adhesive nature of RHA (bimodal pore distribution) in PP matrix to achieve optimal hardness, elastic modulus, and scratch resistance.