Investigation on the Possibility of Using Natural Rubber Seed Oil as Brake Fluid
W. A. Akpan *
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Uyo, Nigeria
E. G. Ikrang
Department of Agric/Food Engineering, University of Uyo, Nigeria.
P. Asangusung
Department of Chemical/Petroleum Engineering, University of Uyo, Nigeria.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
This paper studies the possibility of using natural rubber seed oil as brake fluid. The laboratory properties of both standard brake fluid (SBF) and natural rubber fluid (NRF) obtained from seed oil were determined. The actual test of the braking efficiencies of the brake fluids were carried out with a Mercedes 190 model within the speed range of 20[km/hr] to 90[km/hr] at the permanent campus of University of Uyo and the braking efficiency of 93.45% for SBF and 90.24% for NRF were obtained. This result shows that NRF is suitable for use as brake fluid.
Keywords: Brake fluid, natural rubber seed, brake properties, braking efficiency