TITLE:
The Role of Fillers on Friction and Slide Wear Characteristics in Glass-Epoxy Composite Systems
AUTHORS:
B. Suresha, G. Chandramohan, J. N. Prakash, V. Balusamy, K. Sankaranarayanasamy
KEYWORDS:
Glass-epoxy composite; Fillers; Slide wear; Scanning electron microscopy.
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Minerals and Materials Characterization and Engineering,
Vol.5 No.1,
June
12,
2006
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.