Abstract
Abstract Short carbon fiber (SCF) reinforced epoxy composites with different SCF contents were developed to investigate their tribological properties. The friction coefficient and wear of the epoxy composites slid in a circular path against a steel pin inclined at 45° to a vertical axis and a steel ball significantly decreased with increased SCF content due to the solid lubricating effect of SCFs along with the improved mechanical strength of the composites. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) observation showed that the epoxy composites had less sensitive to surface fatigue caused by the repeated sliding of the counterparts than the epoxy. The tribological results clearly showed that the incorporation of SCFs was an effective way to improve the tribological properties of the epoxy composites.
Highlights
Polymers are one of the most successfully exploited materials due to incredible variety of chemical structures available and their relatively low cost, ease of processing, acceptable thermal and environmental resistances and recyclability [1]
The Rq value of the epoxy composites almost linearly increases from 3.47 to 6.24 μm with increased Short carbon fiber (SCF) content from 2.5 to 7.5 wt% they are mechanically polished under the same conditions
It indicates that the higher SCF content gives rise to the rougher surfaces of the epoxy composites during the mechanical polishing because the increased SCF content increases the numbers of protruded SCFs above the surface and SCF debonded sites on the surface
Summary
Polymers are one of the most successfully exploited materials due to incredible variety of chemical structures available and their relatively low cost, ease of processing, acceptable thermal and environmental resistances and recyclability [1]. A tremendous interest is increasingly raised in scientific and industrial communities to apply polymer composites for tribological applications such as gears, cams, wheels, bearings, seals and high wear and scratch resistant flexible risers because the specific development of polymer composites based on con-. The mechanical properties of SCF reinforced epoxy composites such as tensile and compressive strengths, hardness and elastic modulus have been widely investigated, the reports on the tribological properties of the epoxy composites such as friction coefficient and scratch and wear resistances are not satisfactorily enough. An understanding of a correlation between the SCF content in epoxy composites and their tribological properties is importantly essential for successful tribological applications. The tribological properties of the epoxy composites, such as friction coefficient and wear, were investigated by sliding against a steel pin inclined at 45° to a vertical axis and a steel ball
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