Sliding Wear Performance of Natural Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Matrix Composites.

Abstract

While synthetic fiber composites offer some positive environmental attributes, researchers are trying to explore natural fiber composites (NFCs) due to the high cost and pollution associated with their production. As a result, it is essential to look at the tribological properties that natural composite materials exhibit. This research aims to provide a thorough examination of the current literature about the tribological characteristics of particle-reinforced and fiber-reinforced natural composites under lubrication, such as volume loss, friction, and wear. Additionally, the operational and material aspects influencing tribological behavior are also examined in this study. The results show that a wide range of material parameters, including particle size, volume fraction, fiber orientation, fiber length, surface treatment, and aspect ratio, as well as numerous operational factors, including normal load, sliding velocity, sliding distance, and temperature, significantly affect the tribological properties. The current review study, which focuses on the tribological characteristics of NFCs in lubricated environments, is assumed by the authors to have the ability to direct future research in the creation of innovative material designs for tribological applications.