Comparative Study of Chemically Treated Sugarcane and Kevlar Fiber to Develop Brake Resistance Composites

Our plain-English summary of Comparative Study of Chemically Treated Sugarcane and Kevlar Fiber to Develop Brake Resistance Composites, by V. Mehta, N. Kumar, A. Algahtani, et al (Molecules, 2023).

The study

• Authors: V. Mehta, N. Kumar, A. Algahtani, V. Tirth, T. Al-Mughanam, K.W. Chau
• Journal: Molecules
• Published: 2023;28(12)
• Cited by: 1 article, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

Recently, much research has revealed the increasing importance of natural fiber in modern applications. Natural fibers are used in many vital sectors like medicine, aerospace and agriculture. The cause of increasing the application of natural fiber in different fields is its eco-friendly behavior and excellent mechanical properties. The study's primary goal is to increase the usage of environmentally friendly materials. The existing materials used in brake pads are detrimental to humans and the environment. Natural fiber composites have recently been studied and effectively employed in brake pads. However, there has yet to be a comparison investigation of natural fiber and Kevlar-based brake pad composites. Sugarcane, a natural fabric, is employed in the present study to substitute trendy materials like Kevlar and asbestos. The brake pads have been developed with 5-20 wt.% SCF and 5-10 wt.% Kevlar fiber (KF) to make the comparative study. SCF compounds at 5 wt.% outperformed the entire NF composite in coefficient of friction (µ), (%) fade and wear. However, the values of mechanical properties were found to be almost identical. Although it has been observed that, with an increase in the proportion of SCF, the performance also increased in terms of recovery. The thermal stability and wear rate are maximum for 20 wt.% SCF and 10 wt.% KF composites. The comparative study indicated that the Kevlar-based brake pad specimens provide superior outcomes compared to the SCF composite for fade (%), wear performance and coefficient of friction (Δμ). Finally, the worn composite surfaces were examined using a scanning electron microscopy technique to investigate probable wear mechanisms and to comprehend the nature of the generated contact patches/plateaus, which is critical for determining the tribological behavior of the composites.

In plain English

This was a laboratory materials-engineering study of brake pads. It did not study people, health effects or asbestos itself. The authors made non-asbestos brake pads in six formulations: four with 5, 10, 15 or 20 wt.% NaOH-treated sugarcane fiber, and two with 5 or 10 wt.% Kevlar fiber, in a mix including phenol formaldehyde resin and barium sulfate. They measured physical, mechanical, friction, wear and thermal properties. Tensile strength was highest at 5 wt.% fiber (17.50 MPa for sugarcane, 17.98 MPa for Kevlar). Wear ranged from 1.1 to 1.7 g for sugarcane pads and from 1.0 to 1.08 for Kevlar pads, and it rose as fiber content increased. Recovery was 108.6 to 110.6% for sugarcane pads and 110.8 to 111.3 for Kevlar pads. The authors concluded that the Kevlar pads gave slightly better fade, friction, wear and thermal stability results, while the sugarcane pads had properties very near those of the Kevlar pads. The reported fade figures, and several other numbers in the text, do not match the article's own tables or conclusions.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Laboratory experiment on fabricated brake pad (friction) composites; materials testing, not a health study
• Who was studied: Six experimental brake pad formulations. SCF-1 to SCF-4 contained 5, 10, 15 and 20 wt.% sugarcane fiber, and KV-1 and KV-2 contained 5 and 10 wt.% Kevlar fiber. The sugarcane fiber came from Himachal Pradesh, India, and was treated with NaOH.
• Exposure: No asbestos was used; asbestos appears only as background motivation. The pads combined sugarcane fiber or Kevlar fiber with barium sulfate, phenol formaldehyde resin (10%), lapinus fiber (20 wt.%) and graphite, alumina and vermiculite (15 wt.%).
• Main results:
  • Tensile strength was highest in the 5 wt.% composites: 17.50 MPa for sugarcane (FS-1) and 17.98 MPa for Kevlar (KV-1).
  • Wear rose with more fiber. It ranged from 1.1 to 1.7 g for the sugarcane pads and from 1.0 to 1.08 for the Kevlar pads. SCF-1 had the lowest wear among the sugarcane pads.
  • Fade was reported as 37.2 to 47.6 for the sugarcane pads and 54.6 to 54.7 for the Kevlar pads.
  • Recovery rose with sugarcane fiber content, from 108.6 to 110.6%. For the Kevlar pads it was 110.8 (KV-1) and 111.3 (KV-2).
  • Thermal stability was highest for SCF-4 (20 wt.% sugarcane) among the sugarcane pads, and for KV-2 among the Kevlar pads.
  • On microscope examination of worn surfaces, KV-1 and SCF-1 had the smoothest surfaces.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that the Kevlar-based pads gave slightly better fade, friction, wear and thermal stability results than the sugarcane pads. They also concluded that the sugarcane pads had physical, chemical and mechanical values very near those of the Kevlar pads.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Brake Lining, Thermal Stability, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM).

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