Mechanical and Abrasive Wear Studies on Biobased Jatropha Oil Cake Incorporated Glass–Epoxy Composites

An investigation was made to evaluate the effect of the incorporation of jatropha oil cake (JOC) alone and in combination with silicon carbide (SiC) on the mechanical and tribological wear behaviour of glass fabric–epoxy (GE) composites. A vacuum-assisted resin transfer moulding (VARTM) technique was employed to obtain a series of GE composites containing different fillers viz., silicon carbide, jatropha oil cake and a mixture of SiC and JOC. The effect of different loads (22 and 32 N) and abrading distances from 135 to 540 m on the performance of the wear resistance of the composites were measured. The mechanical properties such as tensile behaviour and hardness of the composites were evaluated. A linear relationship was found between the wear volume loss and the abrading distances. The JOC filled GE composite exhibited a lower specific wear rate by 6 and 10% at 540 m abrading distance for a load of 22 and 32 N, respectively, as compared to that of unfilled GE composites. The worn surface features of unfilled and filled GE composites were examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM).