Defence Technology 15 (2019) 295e299

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Defence Technology
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/dt

Experimental investigations on wear properties of Palm kernel

reinforced composites for brake pad applications
Satish Pujari*, S. Srikiran
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Lendi Institute of Engineering and Technology, Vizianagaram, Andhrapradesh, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The use of asbestos material is being avoided to manufacture the brake pads as it is harmful and toxic in
Received 19 August 2018 nature. Further it leads to various health issues like asbestosis, mesothelioma and lung cancers. These
Received in revised form brake pads can be replaced by natural fibers like Palm kernel (0e50%), Nile roses (0e15%) and Wheat (0
18 November 2018
e10%) with additives like aluminum oxide (5%e20%) and graphite powder (10%e35%). Phenolic resin of
Accepted 26 November 2018
35% is utilized as a binder. Particulated Nile roses are used to increase the friction coefficient and wheat
Available online 27 November 2018
powder is used to reduce the wear rate. Aluminum oxide and graphite are abrasive in nature. This helps
to make brake pads with high friction co-efficient and less wear rate with low noise pollution. The wear
Keywords:
Friction materials
of the proposed composites have been investigated at different speeds. Various tests like wear on pin-on-
Palm kernel fiber disc apparatus, hardness on the Rockwell hardness apparatus and oil absorption test have been con-
Nile rose ducted. Phenolic resin produces good bonding nature to fiber. Thus, Fibers found to have performed
Wheat palatably among all commercial brake pads. The objective of the research indicates that Palm kernal shell
Brake pad could be a conceivable alternative for asbestos in friction coating materials.
Wear test © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND
Hardness test license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Oil absorption test

1. Introduction composition and surface adhesive bonding of natural fiber is

necessary for developing natural fiber reinforced composites. The
In the current days, various studies were meticulously experi- components of natural fibers include cellulose, hemicelluloses,
mented to examine the usage of natural fibers as an alternative for lignin, pectin, waxes and water soluble substances [4].
the fibires that are artificial in Fiber Reinforced Composites. Low Efficiency of a brake structure in a automobile is mainly deter-
density, low cost, high flexural modulus, as well as impact strength, mined by the tribological characteristics of a friction couple. Among
specific strength, renewable, non-corrosive and easier to manu- the components in a brake assembly, the material used for friction
facture are the merits that are observed with fibres that are natu- is taken into account as a pivotal part of the performance of a
rally available. Their biodegradability have helped in their vehicle. The modification of brake performance by changing the
widespread application, including in the automotive, aerospace friction material is relatively easier for the vehicle manufacturer
and transportation industries [1]. Natural fibers play an essential rather modifying other specifications of a brake system. Huge ef-
role in the development of high performance biodegradable com- forts have been adopted to develop friction materials having opti-
posites. Further, they are the needful material in addressing the mized tribological characteristics of various braking conditions.
existing perpetual environmental and 3R (Recycle-Reuse-Reduce) Monolithic materials did not fulfill the diverse requirements of a
issues due to its easy to degrade. These points of interest make commercial brake friction material as the parameters like safety
natural fibers potential replacement for synthetic fibers in com- and comfort of brake performance not taken into concern. Various
posite materials. Mechanical properties of natural fibers are great materials have been used to produce brake friction materials,
and may contend with synthetic fibers in specific strength and expecting that each ingredient provides positive roles for brake
modulus [2,3]. A superior understanding of the chemical performance under different braking environments [5,6]. Brake
pads are essential parts of the braking system. The brake pads for
the most part, comprise of asbestos fibers embedded in polymeric
* Corresponding author. matrix along with several ingredients. The utilization of asbestos
E-mail address: [email protected] (S. Pujari). fiber is been stayed away from because of its cancer-causing nature,
Peer review under responsibility of China Ordnance Society

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dt.2018.11.006
2214-9147/© 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
296 S. Pujari, S. Srikiran / Defence Technology 15 (2019) 295e299

it can cause lung tumor and other medical issues. Another asbestos Table 1
free friction material and brake pad materials like Kevlar, glass fiber Composite material of Type-1 with different volume fractions of Palm kernel
powder.
and graphite were developed. It is envisioned that future im-
provements in the pattern of brake friction material will firmly Sample No. Palm kernel/% Al2O3/% Graphite/% Phenolic resin/%
impersonate the present patterns of the automotive industry S1 10 20 35 35
[7e10]. A derived unoriginal material for asbestos which is pre- S2 20 15 30 35
pared by palm kernel shell has been reported by some surveyor. A S3 30 10 25 35
S4 40 5 20 35
non e asbestos friction material was established by wastage in
S5 50 5 10 35
agriculture e Palm kernel shell (PKS)- along with other constitu-
ents, considered as a substitute in the manufacture of a disc brake
[11]. The presence of PKS particles delivers a higher thermal sta-
2.4. Tribological properties
bility, increased abrasion and sliding wear resistance and delays the
transition from mild to severe wear [12]. The purpose of the work is
The wear characteristics of Type-1 and Type-2 composites as a
to develop an asbestos free brake pads using natural materials like
function of volume fractions of Palm kernel, Nile rose and Wheat
Palm kernel, Nile rose and Wheat.
fibers at various speeds of 350 rpm, 450 rpm and 550 rpm
measured by using a pin on the Disc Wear Testing Machine in
2. Experimental accordance with the ASTM G-99 standard [14]. The sample is of
cylindrical in shape of size 8 mm in diameter and 30 mm length
2.1. Materials were prepared for all compositions of the fibers which is as shown
in Fig. 1. These tests were carried out at a load of 20N at different
Palm kernel fiber, Wheat fiber and Nile rose fiber were acquired speed conditions. The accompanying condition is utilized to
from local industry, visakhapatnam. These collected fibers treated calculate the wear rate [15]
with sodium hydroxide and were ground into powder of required
size. In the work Palm kernel fiber of Palm Kernel that is particu- Dm
Ws ¼ (1)
lated is mixed with aluminum oxide (Al2O3) powder and graphite LrF
powder in definite proportions is called as Type-1 composites and
particulated Palm kernel fiber mixed with powders of Nile rose, where Ws is specific wear rate in mm3/Nm, Dm is a weight differ-
Wheat, Aluminium and graphite in definite proportions is called as ence in gm, L is sliding distance of the specimen in m, F is applied
Type-2 composites. Phenolic resin was used as a matrix. load in Newton and r is the density of the fibers in gm/mm3.

2.5. Mechanical properties

2.2. Alkali treatment

The Hardness of the composites as a function of volume fraction

The collected Palm kernel, Wheat and Nile rose fibers were
of Palm kernel, Nile rose and Wheat fibers were measured by using
suspended in a solution of caustic soda (NaOH) for one day to
a Rockwell hardness testing machine in accordance with ASTM D-
remove the remnant of red oil left after extraction. The fibers then
watered to remove the caustic soda and is exposed to sun light for
one week. The dehydrated fibers were ground into powder form of
grain size of <100 mm using a hammer mill [13].

2.3. Composite preparation

Palm kernel was base material, phenolic resin was binder ma-
terial, aluminum oxide and graphite were abrasive and friction Fig. 1. Wear testing specimens at different volume fractions of the fiber.
materials. Palm kernel, Nile rose and wheat fibers were collected
from the waste palm oil fruit, rose stem and wheat plant respec-
tively. These collected fibers undergone for alkali treatment and
then ground as a powder. The prepared powders of different fibers
are mixed with particulated aluminum oxide and graphite as Type-
1 and Type-2 composites in different volume fractions and are
named as sample numbers like S1,S2,S3,S4 and S5 respectively. The
hand lay-up method is implemented for the preparation of speci-
mens having various sizes. Type-1 and Type-2 Composites with
different volume fractions of the fibers are exhibited in Table 1 and
Table 2 respectively.
Fig. 2. Hardness testing specimens at different Volume fractions of the fiber.

Table 2
Composite material of Type-2 with different volume fractions of Palm kernel powder.

Sample No. Palmkernel Nile roses Wheat Al2O3 Graphite Phenolic resin

S1 5 2 3 20 35 35
S2 10 5 5 15 30 35
S3 15 10 5 10 25 35
S4 20 10 10 5 20 35
S5 25 15 10 5 10 35
 S. Pujari, S. Srikiran / Defence Technology 15 (2019) 295e299 297

Wf  Wi
Oil absorption ð%Þ ¼  100 (2)
Wf

where Wi and Wf are the weights of the samples before and later
immersion of the specimen in SAE 10 oil.

3. Results and discussions

From the existing literature it is found that Palm kernel fibers

mainly contains semi-metals and nonmetals. These elements are
equally found in asbestos. The element composition in Palm kernel
fibers is shown in Table 3.
Fig. 3. Oil absorption testing specimens at different volume fractions of the fiber.
The comparison of asbestos and Palm kernel based brake lining
formulations collected from the literature is shown in Table 4.
Table 3 Tables 3 and 4 suggested that Palm kernel fibers can be used as
Composition of Palm kernel fibers [18]. fibers in the production of brake pads.
Elements Concentration value/ppm

K 860 3.1. Tribological properties

Ca 1136
Ba 101 The specific wear rate of Type-1 composites at different volume
Cr 191 fractions of particulated Palm kernel at different speeds is pre-
Mn 116
Fe 1254
sented in Table 5.
Ni 3 The specific wear rate of Type-2 composites at different volume
Cu 18 fractions of particulated Palm kernel at different speeds is pre-
Zn 127 sented in Table 6.
Se 54
The wear results of Type-1 composites show that, the specific
Sr 141
Br 30 wear rate increases as fiber content increases upto certain extent,
Pb 9 latter the specific wear rate decreases, which is shown in Fig. 4. It is
because the fiber, matrix adhesion. In case of higher fiber contents
the tested composites may be attributed to strong adhesion of fiber
785 standard [16]. The samples of size 25mmX25mmX6mm were with resin [20].
prepared for different compositions of the fibers as shown in Fig. 2. The wear results of Type-2 composites show that the trend of
graph some times decreasing and some times increasing, which is
shown in Fig. 5. It depends upon the adhesion properties of par-
2.6. Physical properties ticulated Nile rose and wheat with resin. At the strong adhesion of
the natural fibers with resin gives good wear resistance of com-
Oil absorption tests conducted as a function of volume fraction posites[21].
of various used fibers, to find the ability of the composites to absorb
different oils. The samples prepared as per ASTM D570-98 standard 3.2. Mechanical properties
[17] with a size of 7.6cmX2.54cmX0.5 cm as shown in Fig. 3. The test
was conducted for 5 days at a room temperature. The following The Hardness values for Type-1 and Type-2 composites at
equation used for the calculation of oil absorption coefficient different volume fractions of the fiber are shown in Table 7.

Table 4
Comparison of Palm Kernel Fibers brake lining formulation with Asbestos [19].

Property Formulation (Asbestos based) Formulation (Palm kernel fiber)\1

Compressive strength/MPa 110 103

Coefficient of friction 0.3e0.4 0.43
Relative density 1.89 1.65
Wear rate/(g$m1) 3.8  104 4.4  104
Water absorption/% 0.90 5.03
Oil absorption/% 0.30 0.44
Toxity Toxic Non-toxic

Table 5
Specific wear rate of Type-1 Composites for different volume fractions of the fiber at various speeds.

Specific wear rate/(mm3$(N$m)1)

Sample No. At 350 rpm At 450 rpm At 550 rpm

S1 0.000197 0.000230 0.000188

S2 0.001970 0.001690 0.001130
S3 0.000390 0.000460 0.000629
S4 0.000197 0.000230 0.000314
S5 0.000098 0.000380 0.000250
298 S. Pujari, S. Srikiran / Defence Technology 15 (2019) 295e299

Table 6
Specific wear rate of Type-2 composites for different volume fractions of the fiber at various speeds.

Specific wear rate/(mm3$(N$m)1

Sample No. At 350 rpm At 450 rpm At 550 rpm

S1 0.000520 0.001640 0.000840

S2 0.001180 0.001130 0.000840
S3 0.000260 0.000710 0.000925
S4 0.001320 0.002050 0.002430
S5 0.002640 0.002050 0.001680

Fig. 4. Effect of volume fraction of palm kernel on wear rate of Type-1 composites.
Fig. 6. Effect of volume fraction of the fiber on Hardness of various composites.

Comparison of outcome of fiber volume fraction on the hardness

of Type-1 and Type-2 composites shown in Fig. 6. It is observed that
the hardness of the composites increases with the increase in the
fiber content. Usually, the fiber content increases the modulus of
the composites which consecutively upturns the hardness of the
fiber. This is because hardness is a function of relative fiber volume.
From the figure it is concluded that Type-2 composites having more
hardness value of Type-1 composites at maximum volume fraction
of the fiber content.

3.3. Physical properties

In the study it is to report the effect of the parameters such as

volume fraction and oil absorption content for five days for Type-1
and Type-2 composites. Table 8 and Table 9 represents the oil ab-
sorption values of different composites for different volume faction
of the fiber.
The results show that, when the volume fraction of the fiber
increases the oil absorption content of the composite increases. The
Fig. 5. Effect of volume fraction on wear rate of Type-2 composites. oil absorption values of Type-1 and Type-2 composites for different
volume fractions of the fiber are presented in Fig. 7 and Fig. 8.
The trend of the graphs indicate that, Type-1 composites have
less oil absorption capacity comparatively to Type-2 composites. It

Table 7
Table 8
Rockwell hardness number of Type-1 and Type-2 composites.
Oil absorption values of Type-1 composites for different volume fractions of the
Rockwell hardness number fiber.

Sample. No Type-1 Type-2 Volume fraction/% Day-1 Day-2 Day-3 Day-4 Day-5

S1 2.11 1.83 10 18.36 18.98 14.23 7.98 4.53

S2 2.75 2.05 20 25.26 17.71 12.29 8.17 5.34
S3 2.84 2.23 30 29.42 22.77 9.42 6.37 5.25
S4 2.92 2.39 40 31.31 25.82 13.63 3.19 4.31
S5 2.98 2.47 50 34.76 24.37 11.04 8.51 1.85
 S. Pujari, S. Srikiran / Defence Technology 15 (2019) 295e299 299

Table 9 4. Conclusions
Oil absorption values of Type-2 composites for different volume fractions of the
fiber.
(1) Better wear properties occurred by adding of 5% wheat in
Volume fraction/% Day-1 Day-2 Day-3 Day-4 Day-5 30% volume fraction of fiber of Type-2 composite. But in
10 23.43 19.53 18.56 17.56 3.14 Type-1 composites for achieving better wear properties the
20 28.36 9.99 20.9 14.99 7.34 volume fraction of the palm kernel should be 50%.
30 30.16 16.69 23.83 12.28 6.87 (2) The maximum value of hardness occurred in Type-2 com-
40 42.62 13.84 21.77 3.97 8.27
posites at 10% wheat and 15% Nile rose added to 25% palm
50 44.9 22.20 12.68 2.76 9.36
kernel, which is nearer to the value of 50% of palm kernel in
Type-1 composites.
(3) The least oil absorption content occurred for 50% of palm
kernel for Type-1 composites after immersion of specimen in
oil for five days. Where as for Type-2 composites the addition
of 2% Nile rose, 3% of wheat for 5% palm kernel the oil ab-
sorption value is less.
(4) Based on the observations in the present work, it can be
concluded that the tested natural fibers can replace asbestos
in reinforcing the friction composites.

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