Tribological behavior of MWCNT filled carbon fiber reinforced polymer composite under different sliding conditions and different environments

Abstract

Fiber reinforced polymer composite materials find its application in a wide domain due to its mechanical properties. Some of the applications may include sliding motion under various environments making the study of their tribological behavior necessary. In this paper, investigation is done on the tribological behavior of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composite with 3 wt. % multi-walled carbon nano-tubes (MWCNTs) as the secondary reinforcement. The experiment was performed on pin on disc type tribometer at room temperature with a constant rpm of 700 rpm and different parameters i.e. sliding velocity, different environmental conditions (like dry, oil lubricated) and different normal loading conditions. The results showed the dependence of wear and friction characteristics of the test material on these parameters by evaluating specific wear rates and coefficient of friction. The experimental results were further examined by FESEM analysis of some of the samples.