Investigations on Mechanical and Tribological Behaviour of Particulate Filled Glass Fabric Reinforced Epoxy Composites

Abstract

The aim of the research article is to study the mechanical and two-body abrasive wear behaviour of alumina (Al 2 O 3) filled glass fabric reinforced epoxy (G-E) composites. Alumina filled G-E composites containing 0, 5, 7.5 and 10 wt% were prepared using the hand lay-up technique followed by compression molding. The mechanical properties such as tensile strength, hardness and tensile modulus were investigated in accordance with ASTM standards. Two-body abra-sive wear studies were carried out using a pin-on-disc wear tester under multi-pass condition against the water proof silicon carbide abrasive paper. From the experimental investigation, it was found that the presence of Al 2 O 3 filler im-proved the tensile strength and tensile modulus of the G-E composite. Inclusion of Al 2 O 3 filler reduced the specific wear rate of G-E composite. The results show that in abrasion mode, as the filler loading increases the wear volume decreases and increased with increasing abrading distance. The excellent wear resistance was obtained for Al 2 O 3 filled G-E composites. Furthermore, 10 wt% filler loading gave a very less wear loss. Finally, the scanning electron micro-scopic observations on the wear mechanisms Al 2 O 3 filled G-E composites was discussed.