ABRASION STRENGTH DETERMINATION OF POLYMER SPECIMEN

1. ABSTRACT:
Abrasion may be simply defined as the removal of material from a solid surface as a result of
mechanical action exerted by another solid. It is such a universal phenomenon that rarely do two
solid bodies slide over each other or even touch each other without a measurable material transfer
or material loss.
In many fields of industry, abrasion and erosion processes are dominant wear mechanisms that
reduce lifetime of costly machine parts. Therefore, it is very useful to use high abrasion resistant
material in manufacturing different machine part. Abrasion resistance of a material makes it both
durable and economical for application.
The objective of this experiment was to determine abrasion resistance by using weight loss
method. This abrasion test was carried out using the “Taber Abrasion Machine”. ASTM standard
method “ASTM D4060” was followed and the result was found to be Taber Wear Index.
The original weight of test specimen is measured and placed on the abrasion tester. A load is
placed on top of the abrader wheel and allowed to spin for a specified number of revolutions. The
final weight is taken and the result is expressed by changes in percentage in weight loss in mg of
cycles. The load and wheel can be adjusted for softer and harder materials.

2. INTRODUCTION:
The present scientific, engineering and economic problem is the abrasion of mechanical parts
equipment caused by decrease of working surfaces properties. Abrasion is the process of
scuffing, scratching, wearing down, marring, or rubbing away (1). Mainly it occurs as a
progressive loss of material resulting from the mechanical interaction of two sliding surfaces
under load.
For example, coins worn away as a result of continued contact with fabrics and human fingers;
pencils become worn after sliding over paper; and sole of shoes become worn due to the
continued friction between surface of streets and sole and many more practical experiences.

Figure#01: Abrasion in tire Figure#02: Abrasion of coin

Abrasion may result in physical damage of surfaces and build-up of high temperatures locally at
points of abrasion or friction is often accompanied by chemical attack such as oxidation in some
cases which often results in embrittlement and wear that is commonly abrasion loss (2). Abrasion
phenomenon assumes special importance for polymers, specifically rubbers in view of their use
in tires, sandals etc.
When abrasion is the predominant factor causing deterioration of materials, testing will give data
to compare materials for application and help to predict the life time of a material. Taber abrasion
is a test to determine a plastic's resistance to abrasion. Resistance to abrasion is defined as the
ability of a material to withstand mechanical action such as rubbing, scraping, or erosion (3).
Abrasion resistance of polymer can be measure in two standard ASTM method. These are ASTM
D1044 which describes a procedure for estimating the resistance of transparent plastics to one
kind of surface abrasion by measuring the change in optical properties and ASTM D4060 which
describes a procedure for estimating the resistance of plastics to surface abrasion by measuring
the change in weight (4).
Here, in this experiment we have followed the later method to compute “Taber Wear Index” as it
is easy,comparatively inexpensive and quick.
Taber Wear Index indicates rate of wear, and is calculated by measuring the loss in weight (in
milligrams) per thousand cycles of abrasion (5). The lower the wear index, the better the abrasion
resistance. Taber wear index(I) is expressed as-
(A − B)
I= ∗ 1000. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (1)
C
where, A is the mass of test specimen before abrasion in milligram
B is the mass of test specimen after abrasion in milligram
C is the number of test cycles.
Here, we have used the Rotary Platform Abrasion Tester, commonly referred to as the “Taber
Abraser” or “Taber Abrader” was introduced in the 1930's and has been a popular instrument for
evaluating abrasion and wear resistance(6).

Figure#03: Taber Abraser Figure#04: Mechanism of taber

abraser
Easy to operate, the Taber Abraser is referenced in numerous internationally recognized test
standards and covers a wide spectrum of materials (including plastics, coatings, laminates,
leather, paper, ceramics, carpeting, safety glazing, etc.
3. MATERIALS AND METHODOLOGY:

3.1Materials:
 Taber abraser.
 Plastic flat specimen.
 Weight machine.
 Stopwatch
3.2Methodology:
 First we have taken a square flat plastic specimen and weighed it.
 Then, mounted the specimen to a turntable platform in the apparatus that rotates on a
vertical axis at a fixed speed.
 Then, two genuine Taber abrasive wheels, which are applied at a specific pressure, are
lowered onto the specimen surface.
 Fixing the cycle of the apparatus for experiment, apparatus is allowed to operate.
 After the specified cycle completion, we weighed the specimen again and calculated the
percentage of weight loss.

4. RESULT AND DISCUSSION:

4.1 Data table:

Observation Weight Cycle no Initial mass Weight of Weight Taber
No used (Kg) of specimen specimen loss wear
(gm) after (mg) index
abrasion
(gm)

1. 2 1000 22713 22681 32 32

2. 1 400 22681 22676 5 12.5
 Stress vs wear Index
2.5

2 32, 2
Stress( Load in Kg)

1.5

1 12.5, 1

0.5

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Wear index

Fig: Stress vs wear index

4.2 Discussion:
The experiment went on without any hassle as it was fully automated. But the only hindrance
was that we could not complete 1000 cycle on the second run due to loss of voltage. And as the
graph suggests, we took only two values. So we could not determine any real relationship
between the stress and wear index.

5. REFERENCE:
(1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abrasion_(mechanical)
(2) Premamoy Ghosh, Polymer Science and Technology (Plastic, rubbers, blends and
composites), 2nd Edition, Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Limited, (2002), PP(494,495)
(3) http://www.intertek.com/polymers/testlopedia/taber-abrasion/
(4) www.astm.org
(5) http://www.taberindustries.com/taber-rotary-abraser
(6) http://www.abrasiontesting.com/abrasion-testing-instruments/taber-rotary-platform-abraser-
abrader/