Mechanical and wear properties of oil palm and glass fibres reinforced polyester composites

In the current study, mechanical and tribological characteristics of neat polyester and its composites were evaluated. Polyester composites were based on either synthetic or natural fibres, i.e. chopped strand mat glass fibres reinforced polyester (CGRP) and oil palm fibres reinforced polyester (OPRP) composites. Abrasive wear behaviour of the selected materials was evaluated using Pin-on-Ring (POR) machine. The tests were conducted against different grads of SiC abrasive paper (400, 1000 and 1500G) and applied loads (5-20N) at constant rotational speed of 50rpm for 3 min duration. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to observe the fracture behaviour of tensile specimens and microstructure of abraded worn surfaces. As a result, oil palm fibres introduced better wear characteristics to polyester in compare to glass fibre. Meanwhile, it showed lower mechanical property than Chopped strand mat Glass fibre Reinforced Polyester (CGRP). For all composites, increasing the SiC paper grades decreases the weight loss while increasing applied loads increases the weight loss.