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Research Papers

# Study on Erosion Response of Hybrid Composites Using Taguchi Experimental Design

[+] Author and Article Information
Amar Patnaik

Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Hamirpur-177005, India

Alok Satapathy, S. S. Mahapatra

Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela 759008, India

J. Eng. Mater. Technol 131(3), 031011 (Jun 02, 2009) (16 pages) doi:10.1115/1.3086334 History: Received January 10, 2008; Revised July 13, 2008; Published June 02, 2009

## Abstract

This paper describes the development of multiphase hybrid composites consisting of polyester reinforced with E-glass fiber and ceramic particulates. It further investigates the erosion wear response of these composites and presents a comparison of the influence of three different particulate fillers—fly ash, alumina $(Al2O3)$, and silicon carbide (SiC)—on the wear characteristics of glass-polyester composites. For this purpose, the erosion test schedule in an air jet type test rig is made, following design of experiments approach using Taguchi’s orthogonal arrays. The Taguchi approach enables us to determine optimal parameter settings that lead to minimization of the erosion rate. The results indicate that erodent size, filler content, impingement angle, and impact velocity influence the wear rate significantly. The experimental results are in good agreement with the values from the theoretical model. An artificial neural network approach is also applied to predict the wear rate of the composites and compared with the theoretical results. This study reveals that addition of hard particulate fillers such as fly ash, $Al2O3$, and SiC improves the erosion resistance of glass-polyester composites significantly. An industrial waste such as fly ash exhibits better filler characteristics compared with those of alumina and SiC. Finally, a popular evolutionary approach known as genetic algorithm is used to generalize the method of finding out optimal factor settings for minimum wear rate.

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## Figures

Figure 1

A schematic diagram of the erosion test rig

Figure 2

Linear graph for L27 array

Figure 3

The three-layer neural network

Figure 4

(a) Scanning electron micrograph of eroded composite surface (impact velocity of 58 m/s, fly ash content of 20%, S.O.D. of 240 mm, impingement angle of 60 deg, and erodent size of 300 μm). (b) Scanning electron micrograph of the eroded composite surface (impact velocity of 45 m/s, fly ash content of 10%, S.O.D. of 180 mm, impingement angle of 30 deg, and erodent size of 500 μm).

Figure 5

(a) Scanning electron micrograph of the uneroded composite surface (alumina content of 20%). (b) Scanning electron micrograph of the eroded composite surface (impact velocity of 45 m/s, alumina content of 20%, S.O.D. of 180 mm, impingement angle of 60 deg, and erodent size of 800 μm). (c) Scanning electron micrograph of the eroded composite surface (impact velocity of 58 m/s, alumina content of 20%, S.O.D. of 180 mm, impingement angle of 60 deg, and erodent size of 800 μm).

Figure 6

(a) Scanning electron micrograph of the composite (with 20 wt % SiC) eroded at 30 deg impingement angle and 32 m/s impact velocity. (b) Scanning electron micrograph of the composite (with 20 wt % SiC) eroded at 30 deg impingement angle and 58 m/s impact velocity. (c) Scanning electron micrograph of the composite (with 20 wt % SiC) eroded at 75 deg impingement angle and 58 m/s impact velocity. (d) Magnified scanning electron micrograph of the same composite showing fiber and filler fragmentation.

Figure 7

Erosion rate versus angle of impingement for different fillings

Figure 8

Erosion rate versus angle of impingement for different fillings

Figure 9

(a) Effect of control factors on erosion rate (for fly ash filled composites). (b) Effect of control factors on erosion rate (for Al2O3 filled composites). (c) Effect of control factors on erosion rate (for SiC filled composites).

Figure 10

(a) Interaction graph between A×B for erosion rate (for fly ash filler). (b) Interaction graph between A×B for erosion rate (for Al2O3 filler). (c) Interaction graph between A×B for erosion rate (for SiC filler).

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