Rubber Wheel Abrasion Testing Machine For Estimation Of Three Body Abrasive Wear Test

The plastic industry is to play a major role in automotive industry, which is on the brink of a revolution. The real plastics revolution in automotive industry began in 1950 when thermoplastics made their debut, starting with ABS and going on to polyamide, polyacetal and polycarbonate together with introduction of alloys and blends of various polymers. The ongoing development of advanced, high-performance polymers has dramatically increased their usage. Originally, plastics were specified because they offered good mechanical properties combined with excellent appearance, including the possibility of self-coloring. The application of plastic components in the automotive industry has been increasing over the last decades. Now a days, the plastics are used mainly to make cars more energy efficient by reducing weight, together with providing durability, corrosion resistance, toughness, design flexibility, resiliency and high performance at low cost.Beardmore and Johnson (1986) emphasized the potential use of fiber-reinforced composites in automobiles from semi-structural or decorative parts to primary structural areas of the vehicle, such as, body structures.

The vision for the future of automobiles by 2020 in National Composites Network (2005) is that the automotive industry will establish plastics as a material of choice in the design of all major automotive components and systems, like, interior, body, exterior, power train, chassis and light weighting. To realize the vision, plastics producers and automakers will work to maximize the value of polymers throughout the supply chain and over the entire life cycle of the vehicle. Now a days, polymer composite is preferred material for enhancing component and system value, polymer based architectures are giving automakers the freedom to create innovative vehicles that increase the value throughout the supply chain and for the driving public, designing with composites positively impact vehicle cost, environmental performance, and customer preferences. We can realize that, polymer is the principal tool to produce safer, more affordable, stylish,durable, energy efficient, and low emission vehicles in every market segment. Rapid, cost-effective processing systems will provide automakers with the flexibility to respond to dynamic markets in future. Das (2001) concluded in his report to Department of Energy, U.S.that cost-effectiveness of mass-produced composite components can only be achieved by using low-cost,high-reliability materials, new high-speed processing techniques, and new structural design approaches that are tailored for fiber-reinforced polymer materials. DOE,in partnership with the USCAR’s Automotive Composites Consortium (ACC), is sponsoring research under the Lightweight Materials Program that seeks to overcome the barriers to more widespread use of composites in automotive applications.

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