Volume 11 Issue 1 ( March )

Lots of availability of plant fibres as well as animal fibres as a filler materials and easy manufacturing techniques researchers have been enticed to investigate whether locally accessible, low-cost fillers can be used for reinforcement and whether they meet the necessary requirements for a reinforced polymer composite for tribological applications. In this work a new hybrid composite were developed with Sugarcane bagasse and chicken feather fibres with PLA as matrix material. Sugarcane bagasse is a plant fibre rich in cellulose while chicken feather is animal fibre rich in keratin, mixed with Polylactic acid biodegradable matrix material. Samples were made by Compression moulding machine followed by melt mixing. The samples were prepared according to ASTM standards and tested on “Pin on disc wear tester” to identify its wear properties. For optimum results we applied Taguchi technic of L18 orthogonal array. The combination of natural fibres and biodegradable matrix material play a very important role and makes it ecofriendly with various applications.

Keywords: Composite Material, Polymer, PLA, Tribology, Wear rate, Regression, ANOVA, Taguchi.