Sliding wear of a unidirectional carbon fibre-reinforced glass composite against steel

Abstract

The results of a study on the sliding wear behaviour of a unidirectional carbon fibre-reinforced glass-matrix composite (UD-CF-DURAN, being developed by Schott Glaswerke AG, Mainz, Germany) are presented. In particular, it was of interest how different loads and sliding speeds affected the specific wear rate of this material against hardened smooth steel counterparts at ambient temperature and relative humidity. Experiments were performed with the fibre orientation parallel, antiparallel or normal to the counterface. The composite materials were fabricated in the form of 10X10X0.3 cm 3 plates by hot-press densification; they consisted of a DURAN glass matrix, with an elastic modulus of 60 GPa, which was reinforced with V f =40 vol% Toray T800 carbon fibres, with an elastic modulus of 300 GPa and a tensile strength of 5.6 GPa. The sliding wear tests were performed on a pin-on-ring apparatus with a variety of combinations of speed and contact pressure. Steel rings (German standard 100Cr6, hardness 60 HRC) 60 mm in diameter and with an initial surface roughness of about 0.06 μm were used as the counterpart