ABSTRACT

In this research work, the effect of bronze fibres on friction and wear performance of phenolic resin-based friction composites was studied. Three friction composites based on parent composition and with varying amounts of bronze fibre (5–15 wt.%) and barium sulphate (35–45 wt.%) were designed and fabricated as per industrial norms. These composites were tested for their tribological behaviour on a Krauss machine as per Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) R (Regulation) 90 schedule. The experimental results revealed that with the increase in bronze fibre, the coefficient of friction (COF), fade coefficient of friction (Fade-COF) and recovery coefficient of friction (Recovery-COF) were decreased, whereas wear performance was found to increase with an increase in the bronze fibre. Moreover, preference ranking organisation method for enrichment evaluations (PROMETHEE) method was applied to rank the fabricated friction composite using four performance-defining criterions. Results indicated that the best tribo-performance exhibited by the friction composite was filled with 15 wt.% bronze fibre.