Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering

https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-022-07221-6

RESEARCH ARTICLE-MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Investigation on Physicomechanical, Tribological and Optimality

Condition for Coir Filler-Reinforced Polymeric Composites
Rajdeep Paul1 · Divya Zindani2 · Sumit Bhowmik1

Received: 14 December 2021 / Accepted: 23 August 2022

© King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals 2022

Abstract
This article speculated the physical, mechanical, tribological, and surface morphology of the coir filler-reinforced polymeric
composite. The investigation has been carried out regarding different weight percentages (2.5%, 5%, 7.5%, 10% and 12.5%)
of coir filler. Moreover, a novel framework for inferring the optimal reinforcement condition of coir in epoxy resin has also
been proposed in the form of Schweizer–Sklar fuzzy TOmada de Decisão Interativa e Multicritério (TODIM) approach. The
proposed framework is reliable as it does away with the expert’s biased evaluations and gives due consideration to their risk
appetite. The optimal reinforcement condition has been deduced with due consideration to tribological, tensile, flexural and
fracture properties of the fabricated composites. Through the investigation, it has been observed that the polymeric composite
fabricated using 5 wt.% coir filler yields the most favourable results with regard to the considered mechanical and tribological
properties.

Keywords Coir filler · Biocomposite · Mechanical properties · Adhesive wear · Surface morphology · TODIM

1 Introduction durable products [4]. Due to their decent mechanical proper-

Natural fibre composites have gained more attention in
the current era due to their lightweight, cost-effective, and
biodegradable properties than synthetic fibre composites.
Several natural fibres such as coconut, wood dust, bamboo,
sugarcane, and betelnut are rejected as agricultural waste.
Currently, much consideration has been given to recycling
waste and waste management. Hence, the research commu-
nity has significantly explored the utilization of natural fibres
and fillers to develop polymer composite. Coir is a multipur-
pose lignocellulosic filler that is acquired from the coconut
husk. These are extensively found in tropical and sub-tropical
countries [1–3]. Coir filler is basically a cost-effective and
agricultural waste material. Of all the commercial natural
fillers, coir has a relatively low decomposition rate and,
therefore, can be considered a viable alternative for making
B Sumit Bhowmik
bhowmiksumit04@yahoo.co.in
1 Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of
Technology, Silchar, India
2 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sri Sivasubramaniya
Nadar (SSN) College of Engineering, Kalavakkam, Tamil
Nadu, India
ties, thermal stability, and durability, they are used in various
industries like the textile industry, the agricultural sector,
and the automobile industry [5–8]. Coir fibre/filler composite
can be used in lightweight automotive parts and manufacture
insulation boards, building boards, panels, and roofing sheets
as a lightweight material [9]. This type of composite is also
used in ballistic applications in multi-layered armour [10].
Because of these different commercials and industrial appli-
cations, natural fibre/filler composites are often subjected to
several tribological loading situations that direct the compo-
nent under various wear mechanisms like abrasive, adhesive,
and sliding wear. Hence, it is important to evaluate and inves-
tigate the established composite’s tribological behaviour to
increase their usability in the different production sectors.
A few research published on the wear performance
of coconut fibre-reinforced polymer composites [11–13].
Danaelan and Yousif [11] examined the wear performance
of coir fibre-reinforced polymer composite under dry/wet
situations. The findings revealed that all test parameters
substantially impact the composite’s friction and wear prop-
erties. Furthermore, the friction coefficient increased as the
normal load and speed rose. Meanwhile, the friction coef-
ficient was greatly reduced under wet contact conditions,
which is about 0.1–0.2. In other senses, the flow of water

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functions as a cleaner and polisher, assisting in improv-
ing composite’s adhesive wear performance by roughly
10%. Later, Yousif [12] looked into the wear and frictional
behaviour of polyester-based multi-layer of coir fibres in
another research. He discovered that coir fibre composites
with three layers performed better in wear and friction than
those with four layers and plain polyester. This is due to the
high interfacial adhesion between the four layers of coir fibres
and the polyester matrix, which can tolerate fibre removal
at the interface. Further, Yousif et al. [13] researched the
influence of various chemical modifications on coir fibre
composite wear performance. According to the study, the
friction coefficient of the untreated composite was higher
at all loads, whereas alkali-treated composite showed less
friction coefficient value. Impurities were also eliminated by
alkali treatment, which improved the interlinking capabilities
of the fibre and polymer.
On the other hand, surface enhancement by bleaching was
ineffective since pollutants were present on the outside sur-
face. Other than tribological studies, some researchers also
investigated on the mechanical properties of the coir fibre-
reinforced composite. Das G and Biswas [14] inspected on
the erosion wear performance coir fibre-reinforced polymer
composite filled with alumina. The effect of impingement
angle on erosive wear of neat polymer revealed semi-
ductile erosive wear, with the peak erosion rate occurring
at a 60° impingement angle. The composites with alumina
filler, on the other hand, respond to solid particle contact
in a semi-brittle manner, with peak erosion occurring at a
75° impingement angle. The erosion wear performance of
coir fibre-reinforced epoxy composites is also influenced
by impact velocity. It has been discovered that regardless
of other factors, increasing impact velocity upsurges the
rate of wear of the composites. Khuntia and Biswas [15]
investigated on the flammability and dynamic mechanical
analysis (DMA) of coir fibre-reinforced polypropylene (PP)
composite. The flame propagation speed of coir/PP com-
posites was found to be maximum in composites having
20 wt. percent coir fibres and then decreased as the coir
fibre concentration rose. DMA thermograms revealed that
the coir/PP composites had a greater storage modulus value
than neat PP, indicating that the composites are stiffer and
had less damping properties. Some studies are also conducted
on the castor oil-based fibre-reinforced epoxy composite in
recent times. Egala and Gangi Setti found that alkali-treated
castor oil fibre-reinforced epoxy composite displays better
mechanical performance related to untreated and KMnO4
treated composite [16]. Later they investigated on the tri-
bological performance of the same composite. The study
reveals that the 5-mm chopped fibre length yielded bet-
ter tribological findings than the 10, 15, and 20 mm fibre
lengths. A fibre-rich surface, high chemical bonding, and
high cross-linking may be responsible for the improved wear
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Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering
performance of 5-mm fibre length at optimum load by pro-
tecting the contacting composite surface and reducing matrix
wear [17].
There are various benefits of taking coir filler as an alterna-
tive of coir fibre for developing the composite. These include
easy processing, handling, minor defect issue, no orientation
problem like fibre material, and cost-effectiveness [18, 19].
The filler’s surface contains numerous contaminations such
as dust, oil, and wax which developed a major constraint
in composite fabrication. Therefore, surface modification is
essential to remove the impurities existing on the filler sur-
face and improve the bonding among the matrix and fillers
[20–23]. Many studies have found that adding different nat-
ural fibres like betelnut fibres, sugarcane fibres, sisal fibres
with polymers that are sliding against steel improves their
wear resistance. However, the performance is affected by the
factors such as size, shape, volume fraction, the orientation
of the fibre, and the test condition such as load, speed, sliding
time, and temperature [24–26].
The study’s novelty is to investigate the adhesive wear
behaviour of micro-coir filler-reinforced epoxy composite.
The other contribution of the presented work is the proposal
of a novel decision-making framework that aids in inspect-
ing the optimal reinforcement condition. The current study
inspected the influence of coir filler content (0, 2.5, 5, 7.5,
10 and 12.5 Wt.%) on the mechanical and dry sliding wear
characteristics of coir filler supported polymer composite.
The effect of variation of load (5–20 N), sliding distance
(0–2000 m), and sliding velocity (0–2 m/s) is examined to
find the volume loss of material, frictional performance, and
temperature variation of the developed coir filler-reinforced
polymer composite. The study also discussed the surface
morphology analysis of the worn-out parts of the composite.
To find the optimal reinforcement condition through a novel
fuzzy-based decision-making tool has also been presented
towards the end of the work.
2 Materials and Methodology
2.1 Materials
The coir filler material has been carefully picked as the rein-
forcing material as it holds high strength and good thermal
constancy [12]. Coconut fruits were collected from the local
market of Silchar, Assam. Coir fillers were removed from the
external shell of coconut casing. Then, they were converted to
powdered particles through the grinding and ball milling pro-
cess. The unwanted dust particles adhered to the fillers were
removed by washing several times. Then, they were dried
in a furnace for 8 h at 60 °C and renamed as untreated coir
filler. Then, sieving of coir fillers was done with the help of
a 100-micron sieve for achieving micro-coir particles. Siev-
Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering
Fig. 1 Conversion of raw coconut to micro-coir particulates
ing reduces the coir particle size to less than 100 microns on
average. The process of converting raw coconut to micro-coir
particulates is shown in Fig. 1.
The present study explores the use of epoxy resin HSC
7400 as the matrix material for composite development.
Aliphatic amine-based hardener HSC 8210 was used for
curing the epoxy resin. The reason for choosing the afore-
said matrix is its low viscosity, i.e. 10,000–12,000 mPa,
and its superior mechanical properties. The pot life of the
resin-hardener mixture is 24 h at room temperature. 10:1
is the mixing ratio of the resin and hardener as per the
datasheet obtained from the supplier. The density of the coir
filler is calculated 0.6 g/cm3 , and the density of the epoxy
resin is 1.10 g/cm3 which was provided by the technical
datasheet.
2.2 Pre-Treatment
The fillers were treated with a 5% NaOH solution during the
pre-treatment process. 8 g of coir filler was mixed into the
5 wt.% aqueous NaOH solution and stirred on a magnetic
stirrer at 870 rpm for 8 h at 48 °C. Later, the fillers were
cleaned numerous times with distilled water and acetone till
the pH shrinks to 7. Finally, the coir particulates were dried
in a furnace at 60 °C for 6–8 h. Treated composites were
retitled as alkali-treated coir filler composite (ATCFC).
The motive behind the alkali treatment of filler was to
eliminate the OH− from the surface of the fillers and thus
lessen the moisture attraction capability of the particulates.
During pre-treatment of coir fillers, NaOH is dissociated into
Na+ and OH− ions. The OH− ion combined with an H+ ion
present in filler and was replaced as water. Na+ ion that was
adhered to the filler surface was removed by washing with
distilled water numerous times, bringing the pH of the filler
particles to the neutral state.
2.3 Composite Fabrication
Composite fabrication was done by the hand layup method.
Firstly, the mixture of treated coir fillers and epoxy resin
was placed in a sonicator machine that uniformly mixes the
two components. After that, the moisture removal opera-
tion was done with the use of a vacuum desiccator. On the
other side, silicon rubber mould cavities have been prepared,
and heavy-duty silicon-free oil was sprayed in the mould,
which performs as a releasing mediator to avoid the mould’s
composite sticking. The filler-epoxy mixture was gradually
poured into the mould cavity and kept the mould in room
temperature for 24 h. After the curing process, the speci-
mens were drawn out from the mould and used in further
testing. Figure 2 shows the process flowchart of composite
fabrication.
3 Characterization Performed
3.1 Static Mechanical Characterization
To determine the static mechanical property of the developed
composite, tensile and flexural test has been conducted. The
tensile and flexural experiment is done according to the stan-
dard ASTM D 638 and ASTM D 790. Both the experiments
are carried out on the crosshead velocity of 1 mm/min. The
measurement of the specimen for the tensile test is 65 × 10 ×
4 mm, and the measurement for the flexural testing sample
is 80 × 15 × 4 mm. The tensile and flexural findings are the
averages of six samples tested.
3.2 Tribological Characterization
The wear tests have been steered on a pin-on-disc (POD)
TR-705 machine supplied from DUCOM. The shape of the
sample is cylindrical with 10 mm × 15 mm according to the
ASTM G99 standard. The wear disc is built of EN-31 steel,
and the dimension is 100 mm × 8 mm thick. The disc has a
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Fig. 2 Process flowchart of composite fabrication
hardness of 62 Hrc and a surface roughness of 1.6 Ra . Before
every test, the wear disc and composite specimen were pol-
ished by an abrasive paper of 2000 grade for highly intense
contact. The diameter of the wear track is fixed at 35 mm.
After every test, the specimen’s weight is weighed on a Wen-
sar weight balance machine with an accuracy ± 0.001 g.
3.3 Morphological Characterization
The microscopic analysis of the worn-out composite is exam-
ined using a field emission scanning electron microscope
(FE-SEM) operating at 15 kV. The surface of the fillers is
viewed vertically and before the assessment, covered with a
platinum coating to elude charging under the beam.
4 Results and Discussion
4.1 Void Percentage
The amount of void formed due to the filler addition and
trapped air bubble must be determined by examining the void
present in the developed material. The void test is performed
under the ASTM standard D2734-16. Both experimental and
theoretical values for the material are determined to assess the
produced material’s void percentage. Using a water immer-
sion density measurement unit, the formulated material’s
experimental density is examined, and the material’s theoret-
ical density is calculated using the mathematical expression
in Eq. 1. As described in ASTM D 792 and ISO 1183-1, the
immersion method is the most used method for determining
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the density of solid particle. A test specimen is weighed, and
its mass is recorded in the air. After that, it’s submerged in a
liquid, and its apparent mass is measured. Equation 2 can be
used to measure the total percentage of void in the formed
composite material.
100
Td  R r
(1)
D + d
Td − Md
V  × 100 (2)
Td
where V is the void content percentage of the composite, and
Td and Md are the theoretical and measured density of the
composite material. R and r represent the wt.% of resin and
coir filler reinforcement of the composite. Similarly, D and d
denote the corresponding density of the resin and coir fillers.
The quantity of void % produced in the prepared compos-
ite is depicted in Fig. 3. According to the findings, the void
percentage of composite material gradually increases as the
filler weight % increases. The neat polymer composite dis-
plays the lowermost void fraction among all the developed
samples. The neat epoxy has a void percentage of 0.09 per
cent, and when the filler material is added to the matrix, the
void percentage increases. This is due to the reduction of
epoxy and increment of hydrophilic filler material, the ten-
dency of moisture absorption capacity increases, and thus,
the void fraction of the composite increases. The highest
void percentage of the composite is 4.2% which is found
at 12.5 wt.% coir filler reinforcement.
Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering
Fig. 3 Void fraction of varying coir filler content
4.2 Water Absorption Test
The water absorption test of composites is executed accord-
ing to ASTM D5229. Six samples of different wt.% are taken
and preheated in the furnace for 1 day at 60 °C. This pre-
heating is required to remove the entrapped moisture in the
composite and find the sample’s raw weight. After preheat-
ing process, the primary weight of the sample is taken before
immersing in distilled water. Then, the samples are removed
from the water and washed with tissue paper after immer-
sion. A high-precision analytical balance is used to measure
the samples. This process is repeated in the interval of 24 h
to 360 h. The moisture content percentage of the sample is
calculated by using Eq. 3.
Wi − Wo
M, %  × 100 (3)
Wo
where M is the moisture gain percentage, and Wi and Wo are
the current specimen mass and oven-dry specimen mass in
gram, respectively.
The experimental results found that neat polymer shows
the lowest moisture gain among all the composite samples.
On the other hand, as the immersion time increases, water
absorption capacity also increases. Initially, after 24 or 48 h,
there is not much gain in moisture, but after 120 and 240 h,
a significant weight change is observed. Furthermore, as the
coir filler content increases, moisture gain percentage also
increases due to the filler’s hydrophilic nature. The maxi-
mum moisture gain percentage is found 0.75% after 288 h
immersion of 12.5 wt.% coir filler-reinforced composite.
After 288 h, moisture absorption of the composite comes to
its saturation point that it cannot increase further. The exper-
iment is conducted up to 360 h to ensure the saturation point
Fig. 4 Moisture absorption behaviour of varying coir filler-reinforced
composite
after 288 h. Figure 4 represents the moisture gain percentage
of the varying coir filler composite.
4.3 Tensile Characteristics
The tensile strength of coir particulate strengthened poly-
mer composite samples’ tensile strength was examined at
a crosshead velocity of 1 mm/min. Figure 5a depicts the
tensile strength of varying coir filler reinforcement. The
results demonstrate that by increasing the coir filler load-
ing to 2.5 wt.%, the ultimate tensile strength increases to
25 MPa, but when the coir filler loading further increases,
the stress value decreases. The ultimate tensile strength and
young’s modulus of neat polymer material are 5 MPa and
300 MPa, respectively. On the other hand, chemical modi-
fication promotes natural fibre adherence to polymer matrix
by interacting with hydrophilic hydroxyl groups in fibre cel-
luloses and reacting with functional groups in the matrix
[22]. At a coir filler concentration of 5%, the young’s mod-
ulus was revealed to be maximum, i.e. 650 MPa. Beyond
5% coir concentration, ultimate tensile strength, as well as
young’s modulus, decreased. Due to the high amount of filler
reinforcing, the unsatisfactory wetting and agglomeration of
filler-matrix happen, leading to the drop in the composite
property. A similar trend in the results has been observed by
Dong et al. [27]. According to the composite matrix theory,
the tensile strength of the natural fibre-reinforced polymer
composite is heavily reliant on the tensile strength of the
monofilament fibre. Furthermore, the length of the fibres, or
the length-to-diameter ratio, significantly impacts the com-
posite’s tensile performance. The study also shows that as
the filler percentage increases, the strength of the composite
gradually increases. This is due to the inclusion of bio-
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Fig. 5 a Tensile strength of varying coir filler reinforcement. b Tensile
stress versus strain of varying coir filler reinforcement
reduced graphene oxide in the composite, which has a higher
interface strength and aids in effectively transferring stress
over the composite’s reinforcing phase [28]. Furthermore,
there is an interrupted rise in corresponding strain values
as filler loading increases. The higher elongation at break
appears to be generated by reinforcing coir fillers in the epoxy
matrix, which deforms more and lowers the composite’s nat-
ural brittleness, resulting in increased tensile strain with filler
loading [7]. From Fig. 5b, it is observed that the maximum
and minimum tensile strain values corresponding to 2.5 and
12.5% filler reinforcements, respectively.
4.4 Flexural Characteristics
The flexural strength of coir filler strengthened epoxy com-
posite specimens’ flexural strength was examined at a
crosshead velocity of 1 mm/min. Figure 6 depicts the flexu-
ral strength of varying coir filler reinforcement. The results
clearly show that tensile strength, flexural strength and flexu-
ral modulus were maximum at 2.5 wt.% filler concentration,
i.e. 35 MPa and 1.2 GPa, respectively. This is due to the
superior collaboration of matrix and fillers. A similar trend
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Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering
in results has been reported in Hasan et al. [29]. Due to coir’s
higher modulus, stress needs to be more significant to get the
same deformation. The flexural strength and modulus incre-
ment has been observed up to 2.5 wt.% filler packing, and
then, decrement in the results has been observed. Compar-
ing results with Kavimani et al., they also found that adding
graphene oxide up to 0.3 weight per cent increases flexural
strength, but that as more graphene oxide is added, the value
declines. There is the possibility of agglomeration of particles
due to a bigger surface area resulting in the reduced load-
bearing capability of the composites when more graphene
oxide is added [30]. The other reason may be the loss of duc-
tility of the composite material may be responsible for the
decrease in modulus values as filler weight increases. These
tendencies can be explained by a deterioration in filler–matrix
interaction as filler content increases. Inadequate interactions
turn out to be the primary cause of inadequate load transfer
from matrix to fillers and composite strength growth [27]. It
could also be due to the formation of a stress concentration
area at high filler density, leading to early fracture progres-
sion and eventual collapse [31]. From graph 6b, it can be also
observed that there is a linear increase in stress w.r.t. strain
up to brittle fracture. The maximum and minimum flexural
strain value is found at 0% and 12.5% coir filler reinforce-
ment, respectively.
4.5 Wear and Frictional Behaviour
4.5.1 Effect of Normal Load
A momentous shift in volume loss is observed as the normal
load rises in all the coir particulate composite’s variations
from low to high. At a small load, very less variation of loss
of material occurs in the compound. The main difference
starts once the load is increased. However, at 5 N load, vol-
ume loss is slightly less for epoxy material, but as the load
is increased to 20 N, neat epoxy displays the maximum vol-
ume loss. Further, superior wear performance is observed at
lower filler loading of 2.5, 5, and 7.5 wt.%. But in greater
filler reinforcement of 10 and 12.5 wt.%, material loss also
increases. This is because as the coir particulate reinforce-
ment increases, the bonding of coir particulate with polymer
is not suitable within the composite. In 5 wt.% filler filling,
the best wear performance has been observed. The reason
is due to the solid interfacial connection between the poly-
mer matrix and coir fillers. Relating to the previous work
[13] alkali-treated coir filler-reinforced composite gives less
volume loss related to the untreated coir fibre composite. Fig-
ure 7a shows the change in volume loss of various coir filler
composites at different normal loads.
The wear performance of a composite can also be mea-
sured by a specific wear rate (SWR). SWR is the ratio of
volume loss per unit load per unit sliding distance. Neat
Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering

Fig. 6 a Flexural strength of varying coir filler reinforcement. b Flexural

stress versus strain of varying coir filler reinforcement

epoxy material shows higher SWR compared to the coir filler-

supported composite at all load variation. This is because
the absence of stronger reinforcement material in the matrix
that could provide improved bonding. Composites with a low
filler content of 2.5, 5, and 7.5 wt.% show lesser SWR. This
can be accredited to lesser friction between the wear disc and
the composite sample. A thin film layer is produced on the
counterface, and another back transfer of the film layer builds
on the composite exterior. In the case of coir filler loading
of 10 and 12.5 wt.%, SWR value rises, as the load upsurges.
This is because high abrasion generates higher loads between
the composite and the disc surface, leading to high material
removal. Here, the SWR increases up to 25 × 10−5 mm3 /Nm.
Figure 7b shows the variation of SWR at different filler con-
tents.
When the normal load varies, the frictional force changes,
and accordingly, the coefficient of friction (COF) also
changes. The neat polymer shows the maximum difference in
COF that varies from 0.37 to 0.55. It is because, in the coun-
terface, the film layer produced is coarser. All the composite Fig. 7 a Volume loss versus load of varying coir filler-reinforced com-
posite. b SWR versus load of varying coir filler-reinforced composite.
reinforced with varying coir fillers shows a steady drop in
c COF versus load of varying coir filler-reinforced composite. d Tem-
COF compared to the neat polymer. Low filler content, i.e. perature versus coir filler loading at different applied loads
2.5, 5, 7.5 wt.%, indicated the lowest COF ranging from 0.25

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Fig. 8 a Volume loss versus sliding velocity for various coir filler-
reinforced composite. b COF versus sliding velocity for various coir
filler-reinforced composite. c Temperature versus coir filler loading at
different sliding velocities

to 0.48, whereas high filler content, i.e. at 10 and 12.5 wt.%

coir filler composite, increment in the COF has been observed
and the value reaches to 0.52, which is shown in Fig. 7c.
Yousif et al. [11] previously reported that COF of coir fibre-
reinforced composite ranges from 0.5 to 0.9, whereas, in the
present work, the COF did not increase that much.
Fig. 9 a Volume loss versus sliding distance of varying coir filler-
reinforced composite. b SWR versus sliding distance of varying coir
filler-reinforced composite. c COF versus sliding distance of varying
coir filler-reinforced composite. d Temperature vs. coir filler loading at
different sliding distances

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Fig. 10 Worn surface of the neat epoxy sample at a 20 N, 1 m/s and 1 km, b 10 N, 2 m/s and 1 km, c 10 N, 1 m/s and 2 km
Temperature is measured by the help of a thermocouple
sensor which is placed in the disc surface. The friction pro-
duced between the composite and counterface depends on the
load and heat generation. As the standard load rises, contact
pressure of the surface increases. Due to high contact pres-
sure, friction coefficient between the composite exterior and
the disc increases, leading to heat generation. At low load,
i.e. at 5 and 10 N, temperature increment is almost similar in
all the composite specimens. The maximum variation occurs
at a high loading condition. Neat polymer material displays
the maximum temperature of 51 °C, while 5 wt.% coir filler
loading displays the lowest temperature increment of 42 °C
at 20 N load. In composites reinforced with 10 and 12.5 wt.%
filler, heat generation has been observed to be significantly
higher than the other composites and the temperature incre-
ment has been revealed to be about 47 °C. As the coir filler
support increases in the composite, the outer surface of the
composite becomes rougher, leading to an increase in inter-
face temperature during a longer sliding distance. Figure 7d
shows the variation of temperature against filler loading with
increased normal load. The heat generation between the inter-
faces is also higher in the previously reported work [12,
13], ranging from 30 to 60 °C. This is because the compos-
ite and the counterface material are highly frictional, which
increases the temperature. In the current work, heat genera-
tion is less, so there is better wear resistance capacity.
4.5.2 Effect of Sliding Velocity
Figure 8a displays the variation of volume loss of differ-
ent filler contents at different velocities. When the sliding
velocity increases, the volume loss has been observed to be
low in the fabricated coir filler-reinforced composites. This
is because sliding time reduces when the speed increases for
a fixed sliding distance and load, which lowers the volume
loss. The other reason may be that the composite and the
counterface could not rub uniformly due to high speed, and
hence, the volume loss decreases. At low velocity, loss of
material is almost similar for all coir filler loadings. In 2.5,
5 and 7.5 wt.% coir filler reinforced composites, better wear
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Fig. 11 Worn surface of the 5 wt. % ATCFC at a 20 N, 1 m/s and 1 km, b 10 N, 2 m/s and 1 km, c 10 N, 1 m/s and 2 km
performance has been observed, i.e. very negligible mate-
rial loss. This is because of the better interaction between
the filler and epoxy that helped safeguard the surface from
wearing out. Another reason is that for lower filler loading,
COF is minimum and almost constant for different speeds
as shown in Fig. 8b. The heat generation between the com-
posite and counterface is also less for lower filler loading,
as shown in Fig. 8c. Thus, lower wearing has been observed
in the developed composite specimens. However, for 10 and
12.5 wt.% filler loading, volume loss is slightly high and it
varies from 0.9 to 2.2 mm3 . It is because of the increased
COF and heat generation at the interface. Neat epoxy sam-
ples show the highest loss of material which varies from 1.5
to 4 mm3 . Since SWR is not dependent upon sliding velocity,
so here the graphical representation of SWR is the same as
volume loss for all the coir filler loading variation as shown
in Fig. 8a.
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4.5.3 Effect of Sliding Distance
The variation in the sliding distance also affects the volume
loss. Figure 9a and b shows the variation of volume loss and
SWR for different coir filler reinforcements at a different slid-
ing distance. During the alteration of sliding distance, other
constraints such as sliding velocity and load were kept con-
stant. Neat epoxy showed the highest volume loss ranging
from 1.5 to 5 mm3 . Similar to other operating parameters,
no significant volume loss and SWR have been observed at
the initial phase of sliding distance. However, minimal loss
of material and SWR have been observed at a higher slid-
ing distance for 2.5, 5, and 7.5 wt.% coir filler composites.
When the specimen rubs on the disc surface for a longer
period, more asperities come into contact with the counter-
face, which directs the specimen to be worn out.
The main reason for high volume loss or SWR is the COF
between the surfaces. The frictional force is high at lower
sliding distances due to greater surface contact. But with
a gradual increase in the sliding distance, a thin film layer
Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering
Fig. 12 Worn surface of the 12.5 wt. % ATCFC at a 20 N, 1 m/s and 1 km, b 10 N, 2 m/s and 1 km, c 10 N, 1 m/s and 2 km
is generated, due to which the COF value does not increase
further. This is why heat generation at the interfaces also fluc-
tuates according to the different sliding distances. At lower
filler loading, COF is minimum, so the temperature varia-
tion is also minimum, but at higher filler loading, COF and
temperature variation are comparatively more as shown in
Fig. 9c and d.
4.6 Surface Morphology
Figure 10 displays the worn surface of the neat polymer sam-
ple. It has already been witnessed from the study above that
neat polymer displays the maximum loss of material at ele-
vated load, sliding velocity and sliding distance compared to
the different coir particulate reinforced composite. From FE-
SEM images, at a higher load of 20 N, it can be observed that
the bulk volume loss happens from the exterior surface of the
composite. Some cracks are also observed, which are prop-
agated as time increases. At high velocity, i.e. 2 m/s, wear
damages are noticeable on the surface. Here, the fragments
of debris are much lesser compared to high loading condi-
tions. At a high sliding distance, i.e. 2000 m, high material
removal has been observed.
The experimental study has already noticed that volume
loss and SWR are lowest at lesser filler reinforcement. Fig-
ure 11 shows the worn surface of the 5 wt.% ATCFC at
various operating conditions. At 5 wt.% filling, coir partic-
ulates are uniformly distributed within the matrix material.
Thus, the loss of material is comparatively lesser. At 20 N
load, few wear fragments are detected to be dispersed on
the surface. Some micro-cracks and significantly less wear
debris are found at high velocity and sliding distance. There
is also evidence of the creation of back film transfer zones
on the surface, which is the primary cause of the SWR value
dropping.
In the case of 12.5 wt.% coir filler-reinforced compos-
ite, a large amount of material removal is noticed at a high
load due to the large volume of filler corroboration with
the polymer matrix shown in Fig. 12. Some micro-voids are
also visible at the surface exterior. At high sliding velocity
and distance, removal of material is also high but less than
high load condition. Moreover, cluster formation of fillers is
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Table 2 Decision matrix for expert 1

M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6 M7

C1 EG L EEG G EL G L
C2 G EG O EG EEG OL EL
C3 OH OL EG OL EL G G
C4 OL L EG OL EL EG EG
C5 EG EG G G G O OL
C6 G G EG EG EG OH OL
C7 EG EG OH OH OH G L
C8 EG EG L L L OH L
C9 FG FG EG EG EG OL EL
C10 EG L EEG G EL G L
*EEG very very good; EG very good; G good; FG fairly good; O mod-
erate; OL moderate low; L low; EL very low

been assayed with due consideration to the mechanical and

tribologial properties of the coir filler polymeric compos-
ite. This has been carried out by employing a novel and
versatile decision-making framework referred to as Schweiz-
er–Sklar fuzzy TOmada de Decisão Interativa e Multicritério
(TODIM) approach [32]. The procedural steps involved in
identifying the optimal reinforcement condition are depicted
in Fig. 13. In accordance with the Step 1, a list of alternatives
requiring primary investigation is identified. For the present
case, a list of fifteen alternatives has been identified depend-
Fig. 13 Methodology for identification of optimal reinforcement con- ing on the coir filler percentage (0 wt.%, 2.5 wt.%, 5 wt.%,
dition 7.5 wt.%, 10 wt.% and 12.5 wt.%) and the input levels of
the parameters for experimentation (load, sliding velocity,
Table 1 Screened out alternatives after primary investigation sliding distance). Consequently, in Step 2 of the methodol-
Sample code Filler content Processing parameters ogy, the performance metrics/criteria for which the optimal
reinforcement condition needs to be assayed have been deci-
Load SV SD
phered and the following have been considered: volumetric
M1 2.5 5 1 1500 loss (C1 ), specific wear rate (C2 ), coefficient of friction (C3 ),
M2 2.5 10 1.5 2000 surface roughness (C4 ), ultimate tensile strength (C5 ), ten-
M3 5 5 1.5 1000 sile modulus (C6 ), flexural strength (C7 ), flexural modulus
M4 5 10 2 1500 (C8 ), fracture toughness (C9 ) and fracture energy (C10 ). In
M5 5 20 1 2000 the aforementioned listed criteria set, volumetric loss (C1 ),
M6 7.5 5 2 2000 specific wear rate (C2 ), coefficient of friction (C3 ) and sur-
M7 10 5 1.5 2000 face roughness (C4 ) need to be lower, while on the other
hand, the rest of the criteria needs to be higher for the devel-
oped coir filler polymeric composite. In Step 3, the identified
seen at higher filler content, leading to high material removal
alternatives have been evaluated experimentally with respect
and high SWR. Some thin polymeric layer formation can be
to the deciphered criteria. The results relating to the tri-
observed at the surface of the composite due to longer sliding
bological properties, i.e. tensile strength, tensile modulus,
time.
flexural strength, flexural modulus, volumetric loss, specific
wear rate, coefficient of friction and surface roughness, are
5 Optimal Reinforcement Condition already elucidated in Sect. 4 of the present work. The results
associated with fracture toughness and fracture energy can
The present section of the work is dedicated to identi- be referred from [7]. Based on the evaluated results and the
fying the coir filler’s optimal reinforcement condition for morphological analysis, out of the considered list of fifteen
the fabricated polymeric composite. The identification has alternatives, seven alternatives have been screened out in Step

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Table 3 Converted linguistic evaluations for expert 1
M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6 M7

C1 [0.70, 0.80], [0.15, 0.25], [0.80, 0.90], [0.60, 0.70], [0.10, 0.15], [0.60, 0.70], [0.15, 0.25],
[0.15, 0.20] [0.55, 0.60] [0.05, 0.10] [0.20, 0.25] [0.70, 0.75] [0.20, 0.25] [0.55, 0.60]
C2 [0.60, 0.70], [0.70, 0.80], [0.40, 0.50], [0.70, 0.80], [0.80, 0.90], [0.30, 0.40], [0.10, 0.15],
[0.20, 0.25] [0.15, 0.20] [0.35, 0.40] [0.15, 0.20] [0.05, 0.10] [0.45, 0.50] [0.70, 0.75]
C3 [0.50, 0.60], [0.30, 0.40], [0.70, 0.80], [0.30, 0.40], [0.10, 0.15], [0.60, 0.70], [0.60, 0.70],
[0.25, 0.30] [0.45, 0.50] [0.15, 0.20] [0.45, 0.50] [0.70, 0.75] [0.20, 0.25] [0.20, 0.25]
C4 [0.30, 0.40], [0.15, 0.25], [0.70, 0.80], [0.30, 0.40], [0.10, 0.15], [0.70, 0.80], [0.70, 0.80],
[0.45, 0.50] [0.55, 0.60] [0.15, 0.20] [0.45, 0.50] [0.70, 0.75] [0.15, 0.20] [0.15, 0.20]
C5 [0.70, 0.80], [0.70, 0.80], [0.60, 0.70], [0.60, 0.70], [0.60, 0.70], [0.40, 0.50], [0.30, 0.40],
[0.15, 0.20] [0.15, 0.20] [0.20, 0.25] [0.20, 0.25] [0.20, 0.25] [0.35, 0.40] [0.45, 0.50]
C6 [0.60, 0.70], [0.60, 0.70], [0.70, 0.80], [0.70, 0.80], [0.70, 0.80], [0.50, 0.60], [0.30, 0.40],
[0.20, 0.25] [0.20, 0.25] [0.15, 0.20] [0.15, 0.20] [0.15, 0.20] [0.25, 0.30] [0.45, 0.50]
C7 [0.70, 0.80], [0.70, 0.80], [0.50, 0.60], [0.50, 0.60], [0.50, 0.60], [0.60, 0.70], [0.15, 0.25],
[0.15, 0.20] [0.15, 0.20] [0.25, 0.30] [0.25, 0.30] [0.25, 0.30] [0.20, 0.25] [0.55, 0.60]
C8 [0.70, 0.80], [0.70, 0.80], [0.15, 0.25], [0.15, 0.25], [0.15, 0.25], [0.50, 0.60], [0.15, 0.25],
[0.15, 0.20] [0.15, 0.20] [0.55, 0.60] [0.55, 0.60] [0.55, 0.60] [0.25, 0.30] [0.55, 0.60]
C9 [0.50, 0.60], [0.50, 0.60], [0.70, 0.80], [0.70, 0.80], [0.70, 0.80], [0.30, 0.40], [0.10, 0.15],
[0.25, 0.30] [0.25, 0.30] [0.15, 0.20] [0.15, 0.20] [0.15, 0.20] [0.45, 0.50] [0.70, 0.75]
C10 [0.70, 0.80], [0.15, 0.25], [0.80, 0.90], [0.60, 0.70], [0.10, 0.15], [0.60, 0.70], [0.15, 0.25],
[0.15, 0.20] [0.55, 0.60] [0.05, 0.10] [0.20, 0.25] [0.70, 0.75] [0.20, 0.25] [0.55, 0.60]

4 of the methodology for prioritization and identifying the    p  

optimal reinforcement condition. The screened-out alterna- T r̃ikj  Sup r̃ikj , r̃it j (7)
tives with their sample code are depicted in Table 1. t1
tk
In accordance with the Step 5 of the proposed methodol-   
ogy, the screened-out alternatives have been prioritized using wk 1 + T r̃ikj
the Schweizer–Sklar fuzzy TOmada de Decisão Interativa e δikj      (8)
p
k1 wk 1 + T r̃i j
k
Multicritério (TODIM) approach. A group of three experts
provides their evaluations for the screened-out alternatives
looking at the arrived results. Following weight vector has Next, the decision matrices are aggregated using interval-
been considered for the experts w  (0.294, 0.374, 0.332)T . valued intuitionistic fuzzy Schweizer–Sklar power weighted
For expert 1, the evaluations are delineated in Table 2. The average (IVIFSSPWA) operator that is depicted in Eq. (9)
scale for converting the linguistic evaluations into interval-
I V I F SS P A(b̃1 , b̃2 . . . b̃n )
valued intuitionistic fuzzy numbers can be referred from [33], ⎛⎡ ⎛ ⎞1 ⎛ ⎞1⎤ ⎞
q γ q γ
and the same has been depicted for expert 1 in Table 3. Sub- ⎜⎢   ⎥ ⎟
⎜ ⎣1 − ⎝ δikj (1 − aikj )γ ⎠ , 1 − ⎝ δikj (1 − bikj )γ ⎠ ⎦ ,⎟
sequently, the converted evaluations are normalized using the ⎜ ⎟
⎜ k1 k1 ⎟
⎜ ⎟
following set of formulations:  ⎜⎡ ⎤ ⎟
⎜ ⎛ ⎞ 1 ⎛ ⎞ 1 ⎟
⎜ q γ q γ ⎟
    ⎜⎢  k k γ  ⎥ ⎟
⎝ ⎣⎝ δi j (ci j ) ⎠ , ⎝ δikj (dikj )γ ⎠ ⎦ ⎠
r̃i j  aikj , bikj , cikj , dikj (4) k1 k1

    (9)
r̃i j  cikj , dikj , aikj , bikj (5)
Owing to the spatial constraints and to sustain the con-
The normalized values are delineated in Table 4. Once ciseness of the study, the elements of the aggregated decision
the normalization matrix have been shown only for the first four criteria. This
 process  has been accomplished, values for is tabulated in Table 5. Subsequently, the criteria weights and
supports Sup r̃i j , r̃i j , T r̃ikj and hence the weight vector
k t
relative weights are determined, and the calculated weights
δikj are determined using Eq. (6), Eq. (7) and Eq. (8), respec- are shown in Table 6. The dominance score, overall domi-
tively: nance score, and hence the ranks of the alternatives under
    consideration are calculated using relative weights. Table 7
Sup r̃ikj , r̃it j  1 − d r̃ikj , r̃it j (6) depicts the dominance score, overall dominance score, and
material alternatives’ final rankings. In accordance with the

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Table 4 Normalized decision matrix for expert 1

M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6 M7

C1 [0.55, 0.60], [0.05, 0.10], [0.20, 0.25], [0.70, 0.75], [0.20, 0.25], [0.55, 0.60], [0.55, 0.60],
[0.15, 0.25] [0.80, 0.90] [0.60, 0.70] [0.10, 0.15] [0.60, 0.70] [0.15, 0.25] [0.15, 0.25]
C2 [0.15, 0.20], [0.35, 0.40], [0.15, 0.20], [0.05, 0.10], [0.45, 0.50], [0.70, 0.75], [0.15, 0.20],
[0.70, 0.80] [0.40, 0.50] [0.70, 0.80] [0.80, 0.90] [0.30, 0.40] [0.10, 0.15] [0.70, 0.80]
C3 [0.45, 0.50], [0.15, 0.20], [0.45, 0.50], [0.70, 0.75], [0.20, 0.25], [0.20, 0.25], [0.45, 0.50],
[0.30, 0.40] [0.70, 0.80] [0.30, 0.40] [0.10, 0.15] [0.60, 0.70] [0.60, 0.70] [0.30, 0.40]
C4 [0.55, 0.60], [0.15, 0.20], [0.45, 0.50], [0.70, 0.75], [0.15, 0.20], [0.15, 0.20], [0.55, 0.60],
[[0.15, 0.25] [0.70, 0.80] [0.30, 0.40] [0.10, 0.15] [0.70, 0.80] [0.70, 0.80] [[0.15, 0.25]
C5 [0.70, 0.80], [0.60, 0.70], [0.60, 0.70], [0.60, 0.70], [0.40, 0.50], [0.30, 0.40], [0.70, 0.80],
[0.15, 0.20] [0.20, 0.25] [0.20, 0.25] [0.20, 0.25] [0.35, 0.40] [0.45, 0.50] [0.15, 0.20]
C6 [0.60, 0.70], [0.70, 0.80], [0.70, 0.80], [0.70, 0.80], [0.50, 0.60], [0.30, 0.40], [0.60, 0.70],
[0.20, 0.25] [0.15, 0.20] [0.15, 0.20] [0.15, 0.20] [0.25, 0.30] [0.45, 0.50] [0.20, 0.25]
C7 [0.70, 0.80], [0.50, 0.60], [0.50, 0.60], [0.50, 0.60], [0.60, 0.70], [0.15, 0.25], [0.70, 0.80],
[0.15, 0.20] [0.25, 0.30] [0.25, 0.30] [0.25, 0.30] [0.20, 0.25] [0.55, 0.60] [0.15, 0.20]
C8 [0.70, 0.80], [0.15, 0.25], [0.15, 0.25], [0.15, 0.25], [0.50, 0.60], [0.15, 0.25], [0.70, 0.80],
[0.15, 0.20] [0.55, 0.60] [0.55, 0.60] [0.55, 0.60] [0.25, 0.30] [0.55, 0.60] [0.15, 0.20]
C9 [0.50, 0.60], [0.70, 0.80], [0.70, 0.80], [0.70, 0.80], [0.30, 0.40], [0.10, 0.15], [0.50, 0.60],
[0.25, 0.30] [0.15, 0.20] [0.15, 0.20] [0.15, 0.20] [0.45, 0.50] [0.70, 0.75] [0.25, 0.30]
C10 [0.55, 0.60], [0.05, 0.10], [0.20, 0.25], [0.70, 0.75], [0.20, 0.25], [0.55, 0.60], [0.55, 0.60],
[0.15, 0.25] [0.80, 0.90] [0.60, 0.70] [0.10, 0.15] [0.60, 0.70] [0.15, 0.25] [0.15, 0.25]

Table 5 Aggregated decision matrix

C1 C2 C3 C4

M1 0.800 0.900 0.117 0.900 0.610 0.715 0.362 0.745 0.600 0.700 0.367 0.750 0.700 0.800 0.299 0.800
M2 0.640 0.743 0.369 0.766 0.600 0.700 0.367 0.750 0.600 0.700 0.367 0.750 0.800 0.900 0.117 0.900
M3 0.500 0.600 0.419 0.700 0.532 0.634 0.422 0.713 0.571 0.673 0.362 0.733 0.700 0.800 0.299 0.800
M4 0.500 0.600 0.419 0.700 0.600 0.700 0.367 0.750 0.748 0.856 0.119 0.836 0.743 0.850 0.301 0.831
M5 0.400 0.500 0.486 0.600 0.400 0.600 0.459 0.600 0.700 0.800 0.299 0.800 0.700 0.800 0.299 0.800
M6 0.600 0.700 0.367 0.750 0.600 0.700 0.367 0.750 0.673 0.775 0.296 0.783 0.700 0.800 0.299 0.800
M7 0.577 0.678 0.362 0.735 0.500 0.600 0.419 0.700 0.700 0.800 0.299 0.800 0.700 0.800 0.299 0.800

Table 6 Weights and relative

weights of considered Weight Criteria
performance metrics C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10

wcn 0.161 0.173 0.138 0.132 0.115 0.026 0.088 0.052 0.087 0.028
wcr 0.931 1.000 0.798 0.763 0.665 0.150 0.509 0.301 0.503 0.162

obtained results, material alternative (M4 ) has the highest 6 Conclusion

overall dominance score and is, therefore, the optimal one,
i.e. polymeric composite fabricated using 5 wt.% coir filler The experimental tests assess the physical, mechanical and
and processed under 10 N load, 2 m/s sliding velocity and wear performance of polymer composite strengthened with
1500 m sliding distance. coir filler, and the following conclusions are drawn.

• Due to the hydrophilic nature of coir filler, 12.5 wt.% coir

filler-reinforced epoxy composite shows the highest void

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Table 7 Dominance degree of alternative Mi over alternative Mj

ϕ (M1, M2 ) ϕ (M1, M3 ) ϕ (M1, M4 ) ϕ (M1, M5 ) ϕ (M1, M6 ) ϕ (M1, M7 ) δ (M1 ) ξ (M1 )
− 0.56 − 0.66 − 4.77 − 4.78 − 4.59 − 2.53 − 17.89 0.678
ϕ (M2, M1 ) ϕ (M2, M3 ) ϕ (M2, M4 ) ϕ (M2, M5 ) ϕ (M2, M6 ) ϕ (M2, M7 ) δ (M2 ) ξ (M2 )
− 6.14 − 0.98 − 0.77 − 5.22 − 4.73 − 3.23 − 21.07 0.561
ϕ (M3, M1 ) ϕ (M3, M2 ) ϕ (M3, M4 ) ϕ (M3, M5 ) ϕ (M3, M6 ) ϕ (M3, M7 ) δ (M3 ) ξ (M3 )
− 8.32 − 3.69 − 8.71 − 5.48 − 6.67 − 3.34 − 36.21 0
ϕ (M4, M1 ) ϕ (M4, M2 ) ϕ (M4, M3 ) ϕ (M4, M5 ) ϕ (M4, M6 ) ϕ (M4, M7 ) δ (M4 ) ξ (M4 )
− 2.83 − 1.17 0.81 − 0.39 − 3.45 − 2.17 − 9.2 1
ϕ (M5, M1 ) ϕ (M5, M2 ) ϕ (M5, M3 ) ϕ (M5, M4 ) ϕ (M5, M6 ) ϕ (M5, M7 ) δ (M5 ) ξ (M5 )
− 7.39 − 3.89 − 2.29 − 7.09 − 4.91 − 3.39 − 28.96 0.268
ϕ (M6, M1 ) ϕ (M6, M2 ) ϕ (M6, M3 ) ϕ (M6, M4 ) ϕ (M6, M5 ) ϕ (M6, M7 ) δ (M6 ) ξ (M6 )
− 4.88 − 2.19 − 2.21 − 3.81 − 3.19 − 1.47 − 17.75 0.683
ϕ (M7, M1 ) ϕ (M7, M2 ) ϕ (M7, M3 ) ϕ (M7, M4 ) ϕ (M7, M5 ) ϕ (M7, M6 ) δ (M7 ) ξ (M7 )
− 8.57 − 3.89 − 1.21 − 7.49 − 2.89 − 5.49 − 29.54 0.247

content and moisture absorption capacity, whereas due to Declarations

the hydrophobic nature of polymer, neat epoxy shows the
lowest value.
• The tensile strength and bending strength are increased to
2.5% coir filler stuffing and then steadily fall because of
less wetting of the filler and the matrix.
• Compared to greater filler support (10 and 12.5 wt.%),
coir filler composites with lower support (2.5 to 7.5 wt.%)
had lower SWR and volume loss. Higher filler reinforce-
ment causes agglomeration of fillers, exposing more fillers
on the composite exterior, resulting in significant material
loss.
• As the load increases, volume loss, SWR, COF and heat
generation at the interface of the material increase. This
is due to high contact pressure generated during sliding,
leading to high material loss. High sliding velocity and
sliding distance show moderate volume loss and SWR.
• The SEM observation reveals a substantial amount of wear
debris, micro-cracks, and filler clusters at a high normal
load. A thin film transfer layer forms on the composite sur-
face at increasing sliding velocity and distance, lowering
the SWR of the composite.
• In accordance with the adopted methodology for finding
the optimal reinforcement condition, the polymeric com-
posite fabricated using 5 wt.% coir filler and processed
under 10 N load, 2 m/s sliding velocity, 1500 m sliding
distance has been observed to be optimal of the different
considered configurations.
Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank IIT Guwahati and
NIT Silchar for their assistance with the tests.
Funding This work earned no unique grant from any federal, private,
or non-profit funding agency.
Conflict of interest There are no potential conflicts of interest in this
article’s work, authorship, or publishing, according to the author(s).
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