Slurry pot erosion wear of nanoclay-modified short fiber reinforced polymer (SFRP) composites

Abstract

The present study aims to investigate slurry pot erosion wear behavior of nanoclay-modified short fiber reinforced polymer (SFRP) composites. Epoxy matrix modified with 5wt% nanoclay was prepared using high shear three roll milling mixing system at 60°C and 12.7 m/s speed. Two short synthetic fibers and two short natural fibers were used as reinforcements, i.e. carbon, glass, basalt, and kenaf. Slurry pot erosion wear tests were conducted using a mixture of sand and water as erosive materials and at a running speed of 300rpm for 10km sliding distance. The results showed that the inclusion of short fibres improved the erosion wear behavior of epoxy polymer, in which basalt reinforced polymer composite showing the best performance when compared to the other types of SFRP composites. The addition of 5.0wt% nanoclay filler also reduced the specific erosion wear rate of the SFRP composites. Nanoclay had significantly improved wear rate of glass fiber reinforced polymer composites of up to 53% compared to its pure state. Basalt fiber was also found to be a potential alternative to synthetic fiber; i.e carbon and glass fiber, based on its lowest wear rate among all the SFRP composites.