Tribological Behavior of Steel Reinforced Glass/Epoxy Hybrid Composites

Abstract

In this paper, the specific wear rate (SWR) and the coefficient of friction (CoF) of steel embedded glass/epoxy hybrid composites were examined and compared. Experiments were carried on the pin-on-disc machine on different types of composite materials like plain composite (steel volume 0%) and hybrid composites (steel volume 5% and 10%) pressed against a rotating steel disc (EN 31). Composites were fabricated using the hand-lay-up method. The volume percentage of steel pin/pipe varied from 0 to 10% and glass fiber from 50 to 60%, while the percentage of epoxy was kept 40% stable. The experiments were carried out on a group of samples for duration 20 minutes for different loads of 70N, 80N, 90N, 100N, and 110N with a varying sliding distance of 1000 m, 1250 m, 1500 m, 1750 m, and 2000 m. The results show that the SWR and CoF vary with different load and sliding distance. In general, CoF rises for some time of rubbing, and then it remains constant for the rest of the testing time. The results obtained show that the SWR and CoF increase with increasing sliding distance and load for all the composites. However, SWR and CoF decrease as an increase in the volume percentage of steel. An SWR of hybrid composite is observed to be reduced by 28.02% and 45.98% with an increasing percentage of steel by 5% and 10% respectively. CoF of hybrid composite is observed to be reduced by 14.11% and 24.02% with an increasing percentage of steel by 5% and 10% respectively. At last, the worn surfaces of the hybrid composites were studied through a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). Shallow and fine grooves appeared on the worn surfaces of hybrid composites at low loads and cracks were found in large quantities at high load which increased weight loss.