Investigation of vibration, flexural, tribological and flame retardant properties on rubber crumb-reinforced polymer composites

This research aims to fabricate polymer matrix composites with improved mechanical, flame retardant, and damping properties by incorporating waste rubber crumbs as the reinforcement. The damping characteristics of the polymer matrix composites reinforced with different weight percentages of rubber crumb such as 0, 2.5%, 5%, and 7.5% were analyzed using a free vibration test. The experimental results confirmed that the addition of rubber crumb significantly improved the damping characteristics of the material. In addition, the rubber crumb-reinforced composites showed improved mechanical and fire-retardant properties. The flexural strength improved exceptionally with the increase in rubber reinforcements up to 7.5%, whereas the tensile strength increased up to 2.5% weight and reduced with the further increase in rubber. Enhanced flame-retardant properties were witnessed in the polymer composites reinforced with rubber crumb than that of the plain Epoxy - Glass fibre composites. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) were also used to ascertain the thermal properties. The scanning electron microscope was employed to analyze the surface and fractography of the polymeric composites. The overall results showed the contemporary effect of rubber crumbs on polymer composites.