Numerical Simulation and Experimental Validation of Granite Powder Filled Jute Epoxy Composite for Slurry Jet Erosive Wear

Abstract In the polymer composite the benefits of utilizing the excellent wear resisting properties in terms of light weight structural design are immediately apparent. Hence, the focus of this study is to propose new sets of unfilled and particulate filled treated jute epoxy composites. Therefore, initially five different weight percentages of alkali treated jute epoxy composites are fabricated (10, 20, 30 40 and 50 wt.%) and studied their slurry erosive wear in experimentally at different operating conditions such as by varying impact velocity and impingement angle by keeping all other factors constant. The steady state erosion results for jute epoxy composites shows better wear resistant behavior for 40 wt.% jute fiber loading. Hence, for further fabrication of series of hybrid composite 40 wt.% jute fiber is kept constant and granite powder is varied in three different (8, 16 and 24 wt.%) weight percentages. The granite filler content in the jute epoxy composite played a major contribution for slurry erosion resistance. Finally, the obtained experimental results are compared with simulated model results by using a computational fluid dynamics tool. The eroded samples are observed through scanning electron microscope to study the wear mechanism.