Abstract
This paper presents the friction and wears behaviour of GFRP (glass fibre reinforced polymer) composites fabricated by vacuum bagging process. Composites were experimentally investigated under two different sliding environments, (a) Dry environment and (b) Oil lubricated environment. Wear tests were conducted on a pin on disc type tribometer and steel as counter body with variable parameters. Experimental results depict that coefficient of friction and wear rate is less in oil lubricated sliding when compared with sliding in dry environment. In oil lubricated sliding, the coefficient of friction is reduced due to presence of softer epoxy resin body matrix in between layers of glass fibres. It is proposed that the lubricant gets absorbed on steel surface and the slight initial wear of the polymer also serves in effect as a “lubricant storage reservoir”, as a result the protruding glass fibres pick up lubricant molecules to effectively avoid fibre to steel contact and ensure effective thin film lubrication. In the dry sliding environment condition, images taken by FESEM shows that the rate of wear of composite increases due to increasing load and high friction as a result they undergo bending at the ends.
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