Effect of water absorption on mechanical and tribological properties of Indian ramie/epoxy composites

In the present work, the water absorption behaviour of Indian ramie/epoxy composites and its effect on mechanical and tribological behaviour have been investigated. The composites fabricated using the hand layup technique were immersed in distilled water at room temperature for water absorption test for a period of 120 days. Mechanical and tribological properties were evaluated for composites with 30 wt.% ramie fibre loading. The results obtained were compared with that of the dry specimen. Mechanical properties including tensile strength, flexural strength, impact strength and hardness were evaluated. A reduction of 16.85%, 13.63%, 21.02% and 3.33% in tensile strength, flexural strength, impact strength and hardness was observed after the water immersion, respectively. Friction and wear behaviour was also investigated for water immersed specimen. Frictional coefficient decreased for the developed composites and wear performance reduced after the water absorption test. Fractured surfaces post to mechanical testing and worn out surfaces of tribological test samples were examined by scanning electron microscopy. The weakening of fibre-matrix interface was observed in the scanning electron microscopy micrographs, which appears to be the main cause for the degradation of properties.