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This investigation intends to come up with a cost-efficient and easily available bamboo leaf ash (BLA) which has high content of Silica, as an effective and complimenting reinforcement for the production of magnesium alloy-based metal matrix composites. By incorporating SiC and BLA reinforcement to AZ91D Mg alloy, the composites were made using the bottom pouring stir casting technique. The ratio between SiC and BLA in the composite, respectively, varied as 0:0, 6:0, 0:6, 4:2, 3:3, 2:4 wt.%. Fretting wear is one of the fundamental modes of wear for any mating parts which have vibration with low amplitude. In this study, an integrated Taguchi-TOPSIS is adapted to make the process variables more optimal for fretting wear of composites. Material composition, load, temperature, time, frequency and stroke length are selected as process parameters. The objective is to minimize the coefficient of friction, volume loss and surface roughness. Using the TOPSIS approach, the multi-criteria optimization approach was reduced to a single-criteria issue. The results revealed AZ91D/2 wt.% SiC/4 wt.% BLA, 10N, room temperature, 30-min, 30 Hz and 0.7 mm stroke as optimal parameters. Microscopic study demonstrates that fretting wear occurs in the partial slip zone for the composite tested at optimal condition. With temperature, the wear regime in composites shifts from partial slip to mixed fretting, whereas in alloys, the wear regime shifts from mixed fretting to gross slip. When the correct set of circumstances are available, hybrid composite can function well as a replacement for traditional materials in machineries vulnerable to fretting wear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The manuscript provides a concise overview of a four-stroke compression ignition engine, which is powered by blends of waste palm oil and waste sunflower oil methyl ester diesel. This engine operates in a dual-fuel mode with the utilization of inducted producer gas generated from bamboo leaves. This study presents a comprehensive summary of the performance, combustion, and emission characteristics of post-mixed fuels, investigated using a Kirloskar TAF1 diesel engine operating in dual-fuel mode. The primary research focus spun around the dual-fuel operation of diesel and post-mixed oils across various load conditions while maintaining a consistent gas flow rate. The findings of the study highlighted interesting trends. Particularly, the post-mixed oil methyl ester (PMOME 20+ BLP.gas) exhibited a 5.26% increase in brake-specific fuel consumption and a 4.66% reduction in brake thermal efficiency under heavy load conditions when compared to pure diesel operation. Notably, the post-mixed blend showcased improvements in smoke opacity, carbon monoxide, and unburnt hydrocarbon emissions, registering reductions of 11.22%, 20.44%, and 10.36%, respectively. Conversely, oxides of nitrogen witnessed a reduction of 19.17% during peak load conditions for the PMOME 20+ BLP gas blend, a noteworthy improvement in comparison to emissions of petroleum diesel. Based on these observations, the current research suggests that integrating renewable fuels into dual-fuel engines holds promise as a viable approach for both economic advancement and the essential addressing of the looming scarcity of conventional petroleum diesel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphene oxide (GO) is a versatile material, derivative of graphene, and it has gained significant attention in the field of polymer nanocomposites due to its exceptional properties and unique structural features. These characteristics make it a successful secondary reinforcing agent for enhancing mechanical performance, fatigue resistance, and other various physical and thermal properties of nanocomposites. However, the low fracture toughness of nanocomposite has restricted the overall structural applications. In this research work, the epoxy nanocomposites were prepared with different weights of exfoliated graphene oxide (E-GO) nanoparticles by using a dual mixing probe ultra-sonication for homogeneous distribution and proper dispersion. A substantial enhancement in mechanical performance and fracture toughness of nanocomposite was observed. The good dispersion and interfacial adhesion among E-GO and epoxy matrix were investigated through the critical analysis of the fracture surfaces of the nanocomposite. The enhancement of mechanical performance of E-GO nanofiller-reinforced epoxy composite was observed superior at 1 wt. % of GO60 particle concentration. The maximum increment of mechanical properties such as tensile strength, flexural strength, and work of fracture were 40.763, 39.23, and 12.106 % respectively, whereas maximum tensile modulus and flexural modulus were 19.3724, 27.63 % at 1.5 wt. % of GO60 as compared to the neat composite. However, in the case of fracture toughness and energy, maximum improvement of 1.256 Mpa.m1/2 and 0.472 KJ/m2 respectively was observed at 1 wt. % of GO60. Such enhancement was primarily due to the bolstering of in-plane crack propagation resistance in the nanocomposites. Additionally, the highlight point in thermomechanical properties of the polymer nanocomposite is optimal storage modulus and damping factor such as 4066.75 MPa, and 0.46 respectively, for the GO60 at 1 wt.% nanocomposite. Moreover, GO60 at 1 wt.% demonstrates greater thermal stability, withstanding up to 50% material degradation at 413.65°C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a hybrid composite of bamboo/Kevlar K29 with epoxy matrix has been developed with different staking sequences. The variation in mechanical properties, such as tensile, compressive and flexural of composite due to variation in staking sequence is analysed and presented. From the analysis, it is observed that the sandwich composite with Kevlar laminates at both the ends exhibits better tensile and compressive properties and on the other hand, the composite with both the bamboo layers on the upper side displays better flexural properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]