Cenosphere is a ceramic-rich industrial waste produced during burning of coal in thermal power plants. This study deals with the effect of cenosphere as particulate filler on mechanical behaviour of woven jute-glass hybrid composites. The hybrid composite consists of jute and glass fiber as reinforcement and epoxy as matrix. The conventional hand lay-up technique is used to prepare composite specimens. Cenosphere of different weight percentage (5, 10, 15 and 20 wt%) was added to the hybrid composite. The samples were tested as per ASTM standards for their mechanical and flexural properties to establish the effect of filler content. It is found that the mechanical properties are significantly influenced by addition of waste ceramic filler cenosphere up to 15 wt% and increases the tensile, flexural and interlaminar shear strength by 90.47%, 24.32% and 16.75%, respectively, in comparison to unfilled composite. The morphologies of the composites studied by scanning electron microscope indicate good dispersibility of cenosphere in the matrix, which in turn improves the strengths appreciable.

No abstract

In the present case, the solid particle erosion characteristics of the cenosphere‐filled glass–jute (GJJG) hybrid epoxy composites have been studied experimentally. Jute with (45°−45°) and glass with (0−90°) fabric orientation have been used to fabricate the composites. Different doses of cenosphere particles (5, 10, 15, and 20 wt%) were also added to the matrix material. A steady‐state erosion rate of these composites has been studied with various impingement angles (30°, 45°, 60°, and 90°) with different impact velocities (48, 70, and 82 m/s). The results indicate that 20 wt% filled cenosphere particles to (GJJG) hybrid epoxy composite exhibit better wear resistance. The maximum erosion at 45° and 60° impingement angles also indicates the semiductile behavior of the composite. The morphologies of the worn surfaces were analyzed using a scanning electron microscope, and it was revealed that inclusion of higher weight percentage of cenosphere particles restricted the impact velocity to erode the surface. The increase in erosion resistance of the developed composites is the outcome of this result.

Natural fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP) composites have gained much interest because of their environment friendliness and cost-effectiveness compared to synthetic fibre-reinforced composites. The availability of natural fibre and ease of manufacturing have tempted researchers worldwide to develop a locally available low-cost fibre and study their feasibility for reinforcement purposes and to what extent they can satisfy the required specifications of well-reinforced polymer composite for tribological application. FRP composites have various applications in the automobile, aerospace and marine fields. They are applied to inlet cone, fan exit guide vanes and other parts of structures in a turbofan engine for lightening an engine. The erosion characteristics of the FRP composites are of vital importance due to the operational requirements in dusty environments. In this present work, the impact of stacking sequence on erosion wear behaviour of untreated woven jute and glass fabric-reinforced epoxy hybrid composites has been investigated experimentally. The orientation of glass and jute fabric was kept at (0°-90°) and (45°-45°) for all stacking sequences. All the laminates were prepared using four plies, and, the number and position of glass layers were varied so as to obtain four different stacking sequences. The erosion rate of these composites were evaluated at different impingement angles (30°-90°) at three different impact velocities (V = 48, 70, 82 m/s). Silica sand was used as the erodent. Our results showed that the impingement angle had a significant influence on the erosion rate. The composite materials showed semi-ductile behaviour with the maximum erosion at an impingement angle of 60°. The morphologies of the eroded surface were observed by a scanning electron microscope, and the possible erosion mechanisms were discussed.