Wear performance of short fiber added polyamide composites produced by additive manufacturing: Combined impacts of secondary heat treatment, reinforcement type, and test force

Abstract

In recent years, the number of studies focusing on the additive manufacturing has increased seriously to elucidate the critical points such as physical, chemical, and mechanical properties. Contrary to common trends and for the first time in the literature, this experimental endeavor aims to comprehend the combined impact of reinforcement type and heat treatment on the wear features of additively manufactured polyamide 6 (PA6) composites. As reinforcement materials, glass, and carbon fibers were utilized and all samples were created through the fused filament fabrication. Half of the samples were subjected to annealing treatment after the main production, and characterization works were performed using a fused emission scanning electron microscope, differential scanning calorimetry, and dynamic mechanic analysis. From the outcomes, it is seen that heat treatment has a positive effect on the hardness, and wear resistance of the composites. Besides, glass fiber‐reinforced samples display lower friction coefficient and lower volume loss results than other samples. For all samples, secondary annealing causes a positive impact on wear endurance in most cases. On the other side, the wear mechanism of the tested samples changes with the test force level and reinforcement type. At lower test forces, abrasive wear‐induced debris parts are detected on the deformed surfaces of PA6 and carbon‐added samples, but this case is opposite for the highest force of 40 N.Highlights Additive manufacturing was underlined as a promising way to create polymer composites with high dimensional accuracy. The combined effect of secondary annealing and reinforcement type on the wear resistance of 3D‐printed PA6 composites was examined for the first time in the literature. Carbon and glass fibers were compared to explore their effect on friction coefficient and wear behavior of polymer composite samples produced via FFF technology. Hardness and surface roughness measurements were used to comprehend the dry sliding wear results. Depending on the increasing test force levels and reinforcement type, deformation, and abrasion mechanisms were analyzed.