Browsing by Author "Sondar, P."

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Effect of alkaline treatment on mechanical properties of natural fiber-reinforced composite
(Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2024) Sangamesh, R.; Hiremath, S.; Biradar, S.; Kumar B, S.; Sondar, P.; Vishwanatha, H.M.
Natural fiber-reinforced composites are gaining popularity as eco-friendly alternatives to conventional plastics across various industries. This study investigated the fabrication of composites using areca leaves as the reinforcing filler material within an epoxy matrix. The composites were prepared using the hand-layup technique, with different weight fractions of fibers. Before composite fabrication, the areca leaves were treated with NaOH solution. A comprehensive set of tests, including tensile, compression, flexural, impact, and erosion tests, was conducted on these composites to evaluate their mechanical properties. The results showed that untreated composites exhibited superior performance in tensile (39 MPa) and compression tests (59 MPa with 45 % fiber content), while NaOH-treated composites performed better in flexural (64–67 MPa) and impact tests (21 kJ/m2 at higher fiber content). Erosion testing revealed that composites with lower filler concentrations demonstrated improved wear resistance compared to those with higher filler content, with erosion rates significantly influenced by sand concentration and particle size. These findings were supported by fracture surface analysis using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). This study provides valuable insights into the potential of areca leaf-reinforced composites as sustainable materials for various applications. © The Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2024.
Effect of Surathkal Beach Sand on Mechanical Properties of Polymer Composites
(Springer, 2025) Bajpai, N.K.; Bheemanalli, A.; Rajole, S.; Sondar, P.; Ravishankar, K.S.
Although beach sand is available in abundance, its usage in the structural applications has been limited. Prior studies betray that the sand taken in a nanoparticle size for the preparation of polymer nanocomposites yields in improved mechanical and physical polymer properties, also addition of nanophase structure to the polymer has been found to be increasing toughness and cyclic fatigue resistance of the epoxy polymer. The present work uses beach sand as the filler for the reinforced epoxy matrix. Sand-epoxy composites, with different particle sizes (150, 300, 420 μm) and varying filler percentages (5, 10 and 15%) were investigated for mechanical properties. Beach sand nano-particles were considered as high-potential filler materials in the present study owing to their molecular size in a reinforcement and polymer nanocomposites made out of them offer the possibility to develop novel materials with unique properties. As a result, the mixture of 10% filler sand with the particle size of 150 μm showed highest tensile and compressive strength and addition of sand particles beyond 10% led to creation of voids, thereby resulting in decreased strength. It is also noticed that, uniform distribution of sand particles within the matrix and interfacial bonding was the main contributing factors for the increased mechanical properties. The FE analysis of sand epoxy composites was also carried out using ABAQUS finite element analysis tool for flexural failure analysis. Simulations were recorded at various instances till failure. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2025.
Failure of Soap Extruder Bolt Assembly
(Springer, 2023) Kumar, J.K.R.; Mogra, N.; Padasale, B.; Dsilva, P.C.; Sondar, P.; Hegde, S.R.
Present work investigates failure of EN8 steel bolt in a bolt–pin assembly that was used as a fastener in an industrial soap extruder. Unexpectedly, EN19 steel pin that is supposedly the sacrificial element in the assembly remained intact. The investigation follows standard failure-analysis procedure comprising, site-visit, visual inspection, metallography, mechanical-testing, design-analysis, numerical stress-analysis, and fractography. The design-analysis finds that the materials of construction were mistakenly swapped between the pin and the bolt that caused plastic-deformation, necking, and eventual failure of the bolt during operational peak-loading condition. The numerical stress analysis illustrates that the bolts failed at the thread-root region that acted as the stress-raiser. Additionally, the investigation finds that poor-quality machining left-behind jagged thread-root profile that increased the stress-concentration furthermore. The metallography and the fractography indicate that a transverse crack that was initiated at poorly machined thread-root led to the brittle fracture of the bolt. The investigation illustrates how human errors can cause recurring failure of critical components leading to production losses and makes suitable recommendations to prevent such failures in the future. © 2023, ASM International.
Modelling and Comparative Analysis of Epoxy-Fly-Ash Composite with Alloys for Bracket Application
(MDPI, 2022) Raghunandan, A.B.; Chiniwar, D.S.; Hiremath, S.; Sondar, P.; Vishwanatha, H.M.
The current study compares and analyses the fly-ash–epoxy composite structure with alloys for bracket applications. A dispersed reinforcement composite is created by combining epoxy and fly-ash. Three different prototypical brackets are modelled and analysed using the finite element method, and their results are compared to common alloys used in the manufacture of L-shaped brackets. The mechanical properties of the composite material are calculated using a rule of mixtures, and the properties of the composite material are modified by changing the percentage composition of fly-ash. Based on equivalent stress and total deformation, all geometrical models are analysed and compared. The analysis results appear to be appropriate for broadening the scope of the application of epoxy-based composites for small-scale and large-scale applications. The results also show that the composite material can be used to make a variety of structural elements with high design complexity, such as bulkheads and other structural components. © 2022 by the authors.
Modelling of single and multi-port manifolds and studying the influence of structural and thermal behaviour on exhaust manifolds used in automotive applications
(Springer-Verlag Italia s.r.l., 2024) Sangamesh, R.; Twinkle, R.; Chiniwar, D.S.; Vishwanatha, H.M.; Sondar, P.; Hiremath, S.
With the new pollution control rules and surging requirements for the increase in efficiency of the internal combustion engines, designing the exhaust manifold has become a growing area of interest. The present work focuses on modelling the multi-end exhaust manifold and comparing it with the single-end exhaust manifold. Both the structural and thermal analyses are carried out using the finite element method. Along with the modified design, various materials such as mild steel, cast iron, stainless steel and medium carbon steel are also evaluated for their structural and thermal behaviour. It is found that the multi-end exhaust manifold performs better in terms of better stress and temperature distribution in comparison to the single-end exhaust manifold. The magnitude of the stress experienced by multi-end exhaust manifolds is 20 MPa lesser than single-end exhaust manifolds. However, the change in material has a marginal effect in terms of stress and temperature distribution. © The Author(s) 2022.