Abstract
The influence of clay mineral silicate types, such as halloysite, montmorillonite, and wollastonite with tubular, plate like, and acicular morphologies respectively, on frictional oscillation of composite materials have been evaluated on Chase type dynamometer and optimised following the combination of Taguchi's L9 design of experiment and regression analysis approaches. The coefficient of friction of ~0.35-0.45 and cumulative wear at < 10 % remained well within the acceptable range. The optimal tuning of friction oscillation to reduce braking induced noise and vibration propensity has been achieved by montmorillonite clay with platelet type morphology or by combination of MgO and wollastonite clay with acicular morphology. The extent of Fe- content in wear debris close to ~ 80 % on the composite surface led to an optimal level of friction oscillation amplitude (Aamp). The hierarchical ranking of the clay based composites by TOPSIS based operation research approach lead to the understanding of design ideology optimization for composites to ensure minimal friction oscillations.
