Influence of Filling Medium Density Polyethylene With Vegetable Oils on Friction and Wear

Abstract

This study aims to fill medium density polyethylene MDPE by four different types of oils and study the influence on wear and friction properties. The four oils are Chamomile oil, Mustard oil, Soy oil, and Almond oil. MDPE was filled with four different weight contents of each oil: 5, 10, 15, and 20 wt. %. The composites were tested using pin-on-disc instrument. Five loads were applied during test, 12 N, 14 N, 16 N, 18 N, and 20 N. The general trend of results showed improvement of wear resistance. Almond oil achieved the best result of resisting wear. 15 wt. % of Almond oil content achieved the lowest value of wear. 20 wt. % of almond oil content achieved the lowest wear value at the highest load. The friction tended to increase with increasing the oil weight content of chamomile oil, soy oil, and almond. For mustard oil, the friction decreased. The results showed that blending oils with MDPE has a counter effect on hardness. SEM micrographs showed the changes in surface topography of MDPE due to filling oils with it.

Comparison of the effects of nano date seed as reinforcement material for medium-density polyethylene (MDPE) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) using multilevel factorial design

“…Wear testing for MDPE-oil composites showed hardness and wear reduction for almond oil filler with 20 wt%. 19 Désiré et al 20 assessed the feasibility of the catalytic polymerization of hemp fibers and investigated the effects of this process on the morphological and mechanical properties of MDPE-based composites. In fact, for such composites with a hemp filler of 30 wt.%, the Young’s modulus and the tensile strength were improved by 8% and 43%, respectively.…”