Tribological and Mechanical Performance of Polyester Composites Filled by Jasmine Dry Leaves

ABSTRACTDry jasmine leaves represent one of the agricultural wastes that cannot be used again. This study investigates the possibility of using these residues as filling material for polyester composites in order to use these composites as a new engineering material for some industrial applications.This study focuses on tribological properties such as wear rates and friction coefficient of the proposed polyester composites, and also studies the mechanical behaviour of these composites.Test specimens were processed by mixing polyester resin by ground jasmine dry leaves ranging from 5 to 50% of the total weight of the sample divided into two categories (soft and coarse) depending on the size of granules of jasmine leaves. Test specimens prepared in the form of cylindrical pins of 5 mm diameter and 30 mm height so that they can be tested by means of pin-on-disc tribometer to measure the friction coefficient and wear rates. Samples underwent to compression test to study the mechanical properties. The results show that polyester composites filled by 5 % and 30 % jasmine dry leaves have relatively higher wear resistance and higher mechanical strength.