Effect of blast furnace slag content on mechanical and slurry abrasion behavior of needle‐punched nonwoven fabric reinforced epoxy composites

Abstract This article reports on mechanical and slurry abrasion response of a new class of material developed by reinforcement of blast furnace slag ( BFS ) in needle‐punched nonwoven polyester fabric epoxy composites. These epoxy‐based composites are prepared by the hand‐lay‐up technique with the variation of BFS content (0, 5, 10, and 15 wt. %) and at constant fiber loading. It is observed that the mechanical properties of the composites are improved significantly with the incorporation of filler. However, the properties like tensile, flexural and inter‐laminar shear strength are reduced beyond 10 wt. % of filler loading. Abrasive wear behavior of these composites is studied in the slurry environment by a slurry abrasion test rig ( ASTM G105). The specific wear rate of composites under a steady‐state condition with respect to normal load and sliding velocity is found to decrease with the increase in filler loading. Further, experimental design through Taguchi's L 16 orthogonal array is applied to determine the optimal parametric combination which reduces the wear rate. The parametric combination among sliding velocity of 0.93 m/s, normal load of 30 N, sliding distance of 600 m, silica sand size of 100 μm and filler loading of 5 wt. %, produces an optimum specific wear rate. The morphological study is conducted on abraded composite surfaces by using scanning electron microscopy ( SEM ) and possible wear mechanisms responsible for wear have been discussed.