Modeling the tribological abrasive wear behavior of woven composite materials using the planning design experimentation approach

Abstract

This article addresses the experimental characterization of the abrasive wear of two woven fabric carbon fiber and glass fiber composite materials, taking into account the effect of moisture absorption. The composite materials were tested to three level loadings and two sliding speeds. The abrasive used was dry sand of size 0.6 µm, and the time of wear testing was 10 min. In order to study the effects of moisture on wear behavior, another series of samples was introduced into the tank of water during a period of 40 days at ambient temperature. The planning design experimentation approach was applied to obtain a mathematical model taking into account the influencing parameters on the wear behavior of the composites. The wear results have shown that for a higher turn speed and a load, the loss of matter increases. In the case of samples exposed to water absorption, the wear rate increases more than the dry samples. The micrographs of the surface of the samples tested were taken in order to characterize the wear mechanism.