Study of Wear Properties of Vinyl Ester Polymer Filled with Micro-Gr-Nano-CuO Particles

Abstract

The Vinyl ester (VE) particulate composites find a wide range of applications in chemical industries and wastewater treatment plants, due to their excellent mechanical properties combined with chemical resistance. The present work focuses on the wear resistance of VE composite reinforced with two different fillers materials (i) nano-copper oxide (CuO) and (ii) micrographite (Gr). The fabrication was done by hand lay-up technique by adding different wt% of pure CuO, Gr and hybrid Cuo-Gr into the VE resin with the help of ultrasonicator and magnetic stirrer. The wear behaviour of VE composites was found by using VE composite pin against EN31 steel disc on a computerised pin on disc (POD) operator by varying sliding speed. Effect of CuO and Gr particles on VE composite alters the wear behaviour by changing the morphology. The specific wear rate increases with the increase of wt% of Gr, whereas in the case of CuO, it increases up to 6 wt% and decreases for further addition. The composite containing 5 wt% of Gr and 4 wt% of CuO exhibits highest wear resistance 2.69 m3/N-m. This result shows that the synergistic effect of hybrid filler Gr-CuO is to improve the wear resistance when compared with that of pure Gr/CuO. The micrograph by SEM showed uniform distribution of graphite and copper oxide particles in the VE composites.