Open Access

Enhanced Mechanical and Tribological Performance of Casuarina Fiber-reinforced Epoxy Composites Using ZnO and ZrO₂ Nanoparticles

S. Purushottam Barve, purubarve5@gmail.com
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Yeshwantrao Chavan College of Engineering, Nagpur, MH, India Vijayakumar Sivasundar, vijaysundarbe@gmail.com
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Saveetha School of Engineering, Saveetha University, Chennai, TN, India M. Naga Swapna Sri, mswapnasri@pvpsiddhartha.ac.in
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Prasad V Potluri Siddhartha Institute of Technology, Vijayawada, AP, India P. Satishkumar, sp.sathishkumar10@gmail.com
Department of mechanical Engineering, Rathinam Technical Campus, Coimbatore, TN, India N. D. Raja, dhasarathan.raja@gmail.com
Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Sri Venkateshwara College of Engineering, Bengaluru, KA, India C. Krishnaraj, krishna.kce@gmail.com
Department of mechanical Engineering, Rathinam Technical Campus, Coimbatore, TN, India Barun Haldar, bhaldar@imamu.edu.sa
Department of Industrial Engineering, College of Engineering, Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia S. Mayakannan kannanarchieves@gmail.com
Department of mechanical Engineering, Rathinam Technical Campus, Coimbatore, TN, India
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Saveetha School of Engineering, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Chennai, TN, India

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Abstract

Natural fiber composites are increasingly explored as eco-friendly and lightweight alternatives to synthetic materials, though their limited mechanical and tribological performance hinders industrial use. In this work, epoxy composites reinforced with casuarina fiber were fabricated and modified with ZnO and ZrO₂ nanoparticles to enhance their properties. Four composites, S1 (epoxy/casuarina fiber), S2 (epoxy/casuarina fiber/ ZrO₂), S3 (epoxy/casuarina fiber/ZnO), and S4 (epoxy/casuarina fiber/ ZrO₂/ZnO), were prepared with a resin-to-fiber ratio of 70:30 and 4 wt% nanoparticle loading. Mechanical (tensile, flexural, impact, hardness) and tribological (wear loss, coefficient of friction) tests revealed that nanoparticle incorporation significantly improved performance, with the ZnO-filled S3 composite showing the best results, achieving a tensile strength of 85 MPa, flexural strength of 125 MPa, impact strength of 7.5 kJ/m², and hardness of 92 Shore D. Wear studies further confirmed minimal wear loss (0.27052 g) and the lowest coefficient of friction (1.91) under 15 N load, 3 m/s velocity, and 1500 m sliding distance. The SEM analysis of worn surfaces supported these findings, displaying severe cracks and debris in the unmodified composites, moderate damage in ZrO₂-filled samples, and smoother surfaces with shallow grooves in ZnO-filled composites, validating their superior load transfer and wear resistance. These results highlight the potential of ZnO and ZrO₂ enhancing the strength and durability of casuarina fiber-reinforced epoxy composites for automotive and structural applications.

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Reference

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