EFFECT OF CENOSPHERE ON THE MECHANICAL AND TRIBOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF NATURAL FIBER REINFORCED HYBRID COMPOSITE Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Industrial Design by Soma Dalbehera (Roll Number: 512ID1005) based on research carried out Under the supervision of Prof. Samir Kumar Acharya August, 2016 Department of Industrial Design National Institute of Technology Rourkela Department of Industrial Design National Institute of Technology Rourkela Certificate of Examination Roll Number: 512ID1005 Name: Soma Dalbehera Title of Dissertation: Effect of cenosphere on the mechanical and tribological Properties of natural fiber reinforced hybrid composite We the below signed, after checking the dissertation mentioned above and the official record book (s) of the student, hereby state our approval of the dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Industrial Design at National Institute of Technology Rourkela. We are satisfied with the volume, quality, correctness, and originality of the work. Prof. D. Sarkar Prof. S.K. Acharya Member, DSC Principal Supervisor Prof. H.B. Sahu Prof. B B V L Deepak Member, DSC Member, DSC Prof. B. B. Biswal External Examiner Chairperson, DSC Prof. Md. Rajik Khan Head of the Department i Department of Industrial Design National Institute of Technology Rourkela Prof. Samir Kumar Acharya 22nd August 2016 Professor Supervisors’ Certificate This is to certify that the work presented in this dissertation entitled “Effect of cenosphere on the mechanical and tribological Properties of natural fiber reinforced hybrid compositeˮ by Soma Dalbehera, Roll Number 512ID1005, is a record of original research carried out by her under my supervision and guidance in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Industrial Design. Neither this dissertation nor any part of it has been submitted for any degree or diploma to any institute or university in India or abroad. Samir Kumar Acharya Professor ii Dedicated to my parents and family members iii Declaration of Originality I, Soma Dalbehera, Roll Number 512ID1005 hereby declare that this dissertation entitled “Effect of cenosphere on the mechanical and tribological Properties of natural fiber reinforced hybrid composite” represents my original work carried out as a doctoral student of NIT Rourkela and, to the best of my knowledge, it contains no material previously published or written by another person, nor any material presented for the award of any degree or diploma of NIT Rourkela or any other institution. Any contribution made to this research by others, with whom I have worked at NIT Rourkela or elsewhere, is explicitly acknowledged in the dissertation. Works of other authors cited in this dissertation have been duly acknowledged under the section “Reference”. I have also submitted my original research records to the scrutiny committee for evaluation of my dissertation. I am fully aware that in case of any non-compliance detected in future, the Senate of NIT Rourkela may withdraw the degree awarded to me on the basis of the present dissertation. 22nd August 2016 Soma Dalbehera NIT Rourkela iv Acknowledgement I would like to express my special appreciation and thanks to my supervisor Prof. S.K. Acharya, Department of Mechanical Engineering, NIT Rourkela for suggesting the topic of my thesis and his ready and able supervision throughout the course of my work. I am highly indebted to my mentor for his invaluable guidance, continuous encouragement and thoughtfulness towards the accomplishment of my research work. I express my sincere thanks to Director NIT Rourkela Prof. R.K. Sahoo and Prof. Md. Rajik Khan, Head of the Department of Industrial Design and Prof. B.B. Biswal for providing all academic and administrative help during the course of research work. The guidance, review and critical suggestion of the Doctoral scrutiny Committee (DSC) during various presentations and review meeting comprising of Prof. D. Sarkar, Prof. H.B. Sahu and Prof. B B V L Deepak are acknowledged. I also express my thanks to Prof. S. K. Pratihar of Ceramic Engineering Department for his help and guidance during my experimental work in the laboratory. I am also thankful to all the staff members of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Metallurgical Engineering, Ceramic Engineering and Industrial Design for their timely help in completing my thesis work. I am thankful to all PhD and M-tech Scholars of Tribology Laboratory of Mechanical Engineering department for providing necessary information regarding the research work. Last but not least, I would like to pay high regards to my father Mr. Prafulla Kumar Dalbehera and my mother Mrs. Premalata Dalbehera & my brother-in-law for their blessing, guidance and supports. This work could have been impossible if I could not get the moral encouragement from my father Er. P.K. Dalbehera throughout my research work in every step at this stage and also supports from my near friends. This thesis is the outcome of the sincere prayers and dedicated support of my family members without which the research could not have reached the present form. Above all I would like to thank almighty for his continued blessings that have helped me complete this work successfully. 22nd August 2016 Soma Dalbehera NIT Rourkela Roll Number: 512ID1005 v Abstract There is a growing interest in use of agro-fibers as reinforcing components for plastics because they are renewable, biodegradable and environmentally friendly. Again, the growing environmental concern has made plastics a target of criticism due to lack of degradability. So there has been a lot of interest in research committed to the design of biodegradable plastic composites. These composites can be very cost-effective material especially for building and construction industry, packing, automobile and railway coach interiors and storage devices. The term filler is very broad and encompasses a very wide range of materials which plays an important role for the improvement in performance of polymers and their composites. Filler materials are used to reduce the material cost and to improve the mechanical properties to some extent and in some cases to improve processability. Besides it also increases properties like abrasion resistance, hardness and reduces shrinkages. Cenosphere is a ceramic rich industrial waste produced during burning of coal in thermal power plants. The present study deals with the effect of cenosphere as particulate filler on mechanical and tribological behavior of natural fiber reinforced polymer composite. The priority of this work is to prepare polymer matrix composites using jute and glass fiber as reinforcement material to improve the interfacial strength between the fiber and the matrix. The fiber characterization has been carried out by Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-Ray diffraction (XRD) method. Different doses of cenosphere are added as particulate filler material to the composite and the mechanical properties of the composite like tensile, flexural, impact test has been evaluated. The study also includes investigation of different tribological tests like solid particle erosion test and three-body abrasion test as per ASTM standards. The work presented in this dissertation has been carried out with the following scheme. 1. Preparation of hybrid composites of different stacking sequence (JJJJ, GJGJ, JGGJ and GJJG) by hand lay-up technique. 2. Determination of density, void fraction and hardness of above all composite samples. 3. Characterization of reinforced composite with XRD, FTIR, TGA analysis. 4. EDS analysis of jute fiber and cenosphere powder. vi 5. Study of mechanical properties (Tensile strength, Flexural strength, ILSS, Impact strength) of hybrid jute-glass epoxy composite with specific orientation of fiber for different stacking sequences (JJJJ, GJGJ, JGGJ, GJJG). 6. Study on erosive wear behaviour of above all composites developed under different parameters like impingement angle, impact velocity and stand of distance. 7. SEM study (both mechanical and erosion) of above all composite samples. 8. Study of mechanical properties (Tensile strength, Flexural strength, ILSS and modulus) of different weight percentage(5,10,15 and 20%) of cenosphere filled hybrid jute-glass epoxy composite for optimum mechanical performance of stacking sequence (GJJG) developed composite. 9. Erosion test of different weight percentage of particulate filled hybrid jute-glass epoxy composite for the sequence GJJG. 10. SEM studies on mechanical properties and erosion wear response of cenosphere filled hybrid jute-glass epoxy composite. 11. Study on moisture absorption performance of hybrid composites. 12. Study for Three-body dry sand abrasion wear test of cenosphere filled developed composites. From the experimental work and result analysis of hybrid jute-glass reinforced epoxy composites it was found that the presence of glass fiber at the outer layer of composites provides better mechanical strength for the sequence GJJG.Further addition of different doses of cenosphere filler to the developed glass-jute(GJJG) composite shows improved mechanical strength. The highest strength was observed for 15wt. percentage of cenosphere filled hybrid composite as compared to others. Moisture absorption behavior of particulate filled hybrid glass-jute composite was also carried out. The moisture absorption kinetics of the