The aim of the research article is to study the mechanical and two-body abrasive wear behaviour of alumina (Al 2 O 3) filled glass fabric reinforced epoxy (G-E) composites. Alumina filled G-E composites containing 0, 5, 7.5 and 10 wt% were prepared using the hand lay-up technique followed by compression molding. The mechanical properties such as tensile strength, hardness and tensile modulus were investigated in accordance with ASTM standards. Two-body abrasive wear studies were carried out using a pin-on-disc wear tester under multi-pass condition against the water proof silicon carbide abrasive paper. From the experimental investigation, it was found that the presence of Al 2 O 3 filler improved the tensile strength and tensile modulus of the G-E composite. Inclusion of Al 2 O 3 filler reduced the specific wear rate of G-E composite. The results show that in abrasion mode, as the filler loading increases the wear volume decreases and increased with increasing abrading distance. The excellent wear resistance was obtained for Al 2 O 3 filled G-E composites. Furthermore, 10 wt% filler loading gave a very less wear loss. Finally, the scanning electron microscopic observations on the wear mechanisms Al 2 O 3 filled G-E composites was discussed.

In this paper, mechanical properties of the fibers extracted from the areca fruit are determined and compared with the other known natural fiber coir. Further these Areca fibers were chemically treated and the effect of this treatment on fiber strength is studied. Areca fiber composite laminates were prepared using Phenol Formaldehyde with randomly distributed fibers. Composite laminates were prepared with different proportions of phenol formaldehyde and fibers. Other tests like adhesion tensile test, moisture absorption test, and biodegradable test of areca-reinforced phenol formaldehyde composite laminates were conducted and reported.

In recent decades, aluminium alloy based metal matrix composites are used in several applications. Al6061 has been used as matrix material due to its good formability, excellent mechanical properties and etc., wide spectrum of the applications in industrial sectors. Inclusion of Frit particulates as reinforcement in Al6061 alloy material system improves its hardness and decrease in density. In the present investigation Al6061-Frit particulate composites were produced by 'VORTEX' method with varying weight percentages of Frit particulate from 0 wt% to 10 wt% in steps of 2.The as cast matrix alloy and its composites have been subjected to solutionizing treatment at a temperature of 530 0 C for 2 hours followed by quenching in different media such as air, water and ice. The quenched specimens were subjected to artificial ageing. Aged specimens were subjected to ultra-sonic test using ultra-sonic flaw detector testing apparatus to identify the common casting defects like porosity, blow holes. Macrostructure and microstructure studies were conducted on as cast and composites in order to investigate the distribution of frit particles retained in matrix material system. Micro structural studies were carried out to understand nature of structure. Density measurement was carried out on both Al6061matrix alloy and Al6061-Frit particulate composite. Hardness tests have been conducted both on Al6061 matrix alloy and Al6061-Frit particulate composite before and after heat treatment. It has been observed under identical heat treatment conditions adopted, Al6061-Frit particulate composites exhibited significant improvement in hardness when compared with Al6061 alloy.

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Drilling is indispensable process and it cannot be avoided for joining composite structures used in various engineering applications. In this research article, the influence of drilling parameters on thrust force and torque of silica (SiO 2 ) and alumina (Al 2 O 3 ) filled into glass fabric reinforced epoxy (G-E) composites are analyzed. Drilling experiments are conducted on these composite materials using BATLIBOI make radial drilling machine. Two different drill bits (HSS and cemented carbide) are used for the experimentation. The influence of drilling parameters like cutting speed and feed on thrust force and torque on drilling of particulate filled G-E composites has been carried out. The experimental results indicated that the thrust force and torque were increased with increasing feed and cutting speed for all the composites tested. Further, it is observed that the carbide drill performed better than HSS drill during drilling of particulate filled G-E composites. The drilled surfaces are examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and damage mechanisms are discussed. Figure 7. SEM Micrographs of the G-E with SiO 2 using HSS drill bit at (a) 15.08 m/min, 0.18 mm/rev and (b) 30.16 m/min, 1.40 mm/rev.