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Study of tribological properties of cenospheres filled HDPE composites

M.V.Deepthi, R.R.N.Sailaja, P.Sampathkumaran, S.Vynatheya, S.Seetharamu

High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) composites have beenmade using light weight cenospheres as fillermaterial in different volume fractions alongwith the incorporation of HDPE-g-DBMcompatibilizer for improved interfacial adhesion and tribological characteristics. Cenospheres are hollow ceramic based microspheres found in fly ash, a natural by-product of coal combustion during the generation of electric power. Cenospheres are easy to handle and provide a low surface area-to-volume ratio. Utilization of cenospheres reduces the cost of manufacturersÂ’ raw materials and can lead to the development of lightweight composites. The study comprising of preparation and evaluation of various tribological properties ofHDPE with cenospheres as filler material at 3 levels and HDPE-g-DBM as compatibilizer has been reported since similar kind of work could not be cited in the literature. The tribological studies have been done using a Pin-on-Disc type of wear test rigwith the pin as the HDPE compositematerial sliding over a hard disc. The damage assessment of the worn out samples has been carried out using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The results showed that as the cenosphere content is increased, both slide wear loss and coefficient of friction values decreased. The HDPE material without any filler showed the highest wear loss. The coefficient of friction of HDPE matrix in comparison with HDPE-cenosphere based composites exhibited mixed trends. Compatibilization favored wear resistance although the excessive compatibilizer decreased tribological properties of the composites.