The Role of Fillers on Friction and Slide Wear Characteristics in Glass-Epoxy Composite Systems

Abstract

The comparative performance of Glass-Epoxy (G-E) composite systems interfaced with graded fillers has been examined. In this study, composite materials were experimentally investigated under varying load and sliding velocities by using a Pin-on-Disc type wear tester. The influence of two inorganic fillers, silicon carbide particles (SiC) and graphite, on the wear of the glass fabric reinforced epoxy composites under dry sliding conditions has been investigated. For increased load and sliding velocity situations, higher wear loss was recorded. Some of these observations are supplemented by scanning electron microscopic (SEM) investigations. The coefficients of frictional values show an increasing trend with subsequent increase in load/sliding velocities. It was observed that the Graphite filled G-E composite shows lower coefficient of friction than the other two composites irrespective of variation in the load/sliding velocities. SiC filled G-E composite exhibited the maximum wear resistance. Further, wear of the matrix, breakage of reinforcing fibers, matrix debris formation and interface separation were observed in unfilled and graphite-filled G-E composites. Other interesting SEM features have been noticed and discussed.

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B. Suresha, G. Chandramohan, J. Prakash, V. Balusamy and K. Sankaranarayanasamy, "The Role of Fillers on Friction and Slide Wear Characteristics in Glass-Epoxy Composite Systems," Journal of Minerals and Materials Characterization and Engineering, Vol. 5 No. 1, 2006, pp. 87-101. doi: 10.4236/jmmce.2006.51006.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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