No abstract

Polymer materials when reinforced with high modulus fibers yield higher strength, higher stiffness, better toughness, and good dimensional stability. Fiber reinforcements are effective in reducing wear in adhesive situations in addition to increasing the strength and stiffness. The adhesive conditions are generally encountered in automotive and aerospace applications. In such applications, the types of reinforcement material used are important from the point of improved performance under different tribo situations. In this particular investigation, carbon-epoxy (C-E) composite is compared with that of glass-epoxy (G-E) composites for tribological properties using a pin-on-disc set up. The tests are conducted by subjecting C-E samples sliding against a hard steel disc (62 HRC) under different sliding and loading conditions. This article highlights the friction and wear behavior of these composites run for a constant sliding distance, where in the C-E composites show lower friction and lower slide wear loss compared to G-E composites irrespective of the load or speed employed. Some of the wear data are supported by the scanning electron microscope (SEM) images.

Polymeric composites have steadily gained importance in recent years for industrial applications. The increase in use calls for a better understanding of their behavior under different working environments. Friction and wear are considered two important parameters that govern tribological behavior. In this study, the friction and wear characteristics of E-glass-epoxy (G-E) and graphite filler of three different levels in G-E composites were experimentally investigated using a pin-on-disc set-up at varied loads and sliding velocities. From this investigation, it was found that a 7.5 wt% graphite filled G-E composite system showed least coefficient of friction and highest wear resistance compared to the plain G-E composite system, irrespective of the load/speed adopted. Besides conventional weighing, determination of coefficient of friction and examination of worn surface features were undertaken using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) for interpretation of wear behavior.