Effect of reinforcement coatings on the dry sliding wear behaviour of aluminium/SiC particles/carbon fibres hybrid composites

Dry sliding wear of an AA 6061 alloy reinforced with both modified SiC particles and metal coated carbon fibres has been studied. SiC particles were used to increase the hardness of the composite while short carbon fibres are supposed to act as a solid lubricant. SiC particles were coated with a silica layer deposited through a sol–gel procedure to increase the processability of the composite and to enhance the particle–matrix interfacial resistance. The metallic coatings on carbon fibres were made of copper or nickel phosphorus which was deposited through an electroless process. The metallic coatings favoured the wetting of the fibres during processing and then dissolved in the aluminium matrix forming intermetallic compounds that increased its hardness. Wear behaviour of AA 6061–20%SiC and AA 6061–20%SiC–2%C was compared with that of the composites with the same reinforcement content but using coated particles and fibres. The influence that the modification of the matrix because of the incorporation of coatings on the reinforcements had on the mild wear behaviour was investigated. The wear resistance of the composites increased when carbon fibres were added as secondary reinforcement and when coated reinforcements were used.     

Tribological Behavior of Particles and Fiber-Reinforced Hybrid Nanocomposites

This article discusses the mechanical performance of alumina nanoparticles and randomly distributed short glass/carbon fiber-reinforced hybrid composites through microhardness and wear test. The open mold casting method was adapted to prepare the test coupons. The wear and friction behavior of composites sliding against hardened ground EN 32 steel in a pin-on-disc configuration is evaluated on a wear and friction tester. The microhardness properties of the neat epoxy, alumina nanoparticles, and alumina nanoparticle–embedded glass/carbon fiber–reinforced hybrid composites were determined. The morphology of the worn composites was analyzed with a scanning electron microscope. It was found that the particles as fillers contributed significantly to improve the mechanical properties and wear resistance of the polymer composites. This is because the fillers contributed to enhance the bonding strength between the fiber and the epoxy resin. Moreover, the wear and friction resistance of the glass/carbon fiber composites was increased by increasing the filler weight in the composite materials.     

Effects of Resin Type and Fiber Length on the Mechanical and Tribological Properties of Brake Friction Materials

In this study, the effects of resin type and fiber length on mechanical properties and friction characteristics of automotive brake materials were studied. Three types of resin, viz. straight phenolic resin (SR), cashew nut shell liquid modified resin (CR), and melamine resin (MR) were used as matrix material. Lapinus with different lengths was used as inorganic fiber. Three series of friction composites composed of nine composites in the form of brake materials were manufactured. Physical, mechanical, and tribological properties of all composites were investigated. The friction tests were performed using a Chase type friction tester. The results showed that both resin type and fiber length played an important role on the mechanical and tribological properties of the friction materials. The highest and the lowest friction coefficient for resin types were recorded for SR and MR composites, respectively, while MR and CR composites showed the highest and the lowest wear resistance, respectively. For the fiber length considered, increasing the fiber length increased the wear resistance of the composites. The coefficient of friction, in general, showed a good correlation with the wear resistance of the composites. But, there was no clear correlation with the mechanical and tribological properties of the composites. The morphological features of worn surfaces and wear debris of the composites were analyzed in order to understand the friction and wear mechanisms of this tribosystem.     

Wear mechanisms in polymer matrix composites abraded by bulk solids

An experimental study of the wear of polymer matrix composite materials subjected to abrasion from bulk materials has been conducted. Three examples of vinyl ester resin systems were considered: (a) unreinforced, (b) reinforced with glass fibres, and (c) reinforced with particles of ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHWMPE). Soft and hard bulk materials used for abrasion were granular forms of coal and the mineral ignimbrite. The bulk material was presented to the wear surface on a conveyor belt in a novel wear tester. While UHWMPE reinforcement enhanced the wear resistance to both hard and soft abrasives, the situation for fibre reinforcement was more complicated. With coal as the abrasive, it was found that glass fibre reinforcement reduced the wear rate, whereas in the case of the harder ignimbrite, fibre reinforcement increased the wear rate. Microscopy indicated significant differences in the mechanism of wear in each surface/abrasive combination. Wear textures, consistent with both two and three-body wear, were observed with, respectively, soft and hard abrasive particles.     

Role of polymeric matrices in improving wear resistance of irradiated FRP composites

The present paper reports the effect of different resin matrices on the abrasive wear behaviour of woven fabric composites based on them. Three different resin systems and a common glass fibre reinforcement were used in the present study. It was found that polymer composites based on the epoxy resin system show maximum wear resistance. This has been attributed to the fact that fibre-matrix interfacial bonding is very strong between the glass fibres and epoxide resin. The bonding resists composite failure and improves on irradiation.     

高导电耐磨铜基复合材料的研究

用冷压-烧结-热挤压工艺制备了SiCp／Cu复合材料，得到组织均匀、致密、导电导热的复合材料。干磨损试验结果表明，随着SiC含量的提高，复合材料具有更高的耐磨性；SiC颗粒增强物的加入减小了材料的粘着磨损，使复合材料在高载荷条件下具有更为优越的耐磨性。SiC体积分数不超过15％的铜基复合材料具有比铬锆铜合金更高的导电、导热性能和耐磨性。     

Wear behaviour of Al/(Al2O3p+SiCp) hybrid composites

In this study, dry sliding metal–metal and metal–abrasive wear behaviours of the aluminium matrix hybrid composites produced by pressure infiltration technique were investigated. These composites were reinforced with 37 vol% Al₂O₃ and 25 vol% SiC particles and contained up to 8 wt% Mg in their matrixes. While matrix hardness and compression strength increased, amount of porosity and impact toughness decreased with increasing Mg content of the matrix. Metal–metal and metal–abrasive wear tests revealed that wear resistance of the composites increased with increasing Mg addition. On the other hand, abrasive resistance decreased with increasing test temperature, especially above 200 °C.     

Effect of reinforcement on wear behaviour of aluminium hybrid composites

Abstract

Aluminium metal matrix composites are among the recent developments in engineering applications to meet the present day need of light weight, high strength/weight ratio and good wear properties. In the present study, AlSi10Mg alloy reinforced with 3, 6 and 9 wt-% alumina with constant 3 wt-% graphite particles was produced by stir casting technique. Microstructural investigations as well as evaluation of mechanical properties such as hardness, tensile strength and double shear strength were conducted on composites and unreinforced alloy specimens. Tribological behaviour of hybrid composites was studied using pin on disc test machine. Wornout surfaces were analysed using scanning electron microscopy, and wear debris were analysed using X-ray diffraction. Results revealed that the mechanical properties of hybrid composites were higher than unreinforced alloy. Dry sliding wear test results indicated that the aluminium alloy reinforced with 9 wt-% alumina and 3 wt-% graphite has highest wear resistance compared to unreinforced alloy.     

Tribological Studies of Nanoclay Filled Epoxy Hybrid Laminates

In this work, the tribological properties of a new class of hybrid composite material were examined. The hybrid composite consisting of glass fiber–reinforced epoxy polymer filled with nanoclay particles was prepared by vacuum-assisted resin infusion molding (VARIM). The effect of fiber content, fiber orientation, and nanoclay concentration on wear properties was examined. The results indicate that at higher fiber content (75 wt%), nanoclay addition in composites has less effect on the wear rate, whereas a significant positive effect was observed when nanoclay was filled in lower fiber content (25 and 50 wt%) composites. Microscopy examination reveals that nanoclay addition improves the wear properties of a matrix-rich phase at low fiber content with improved fiber matrix adhesion, whereas this effect was negligible in higher fiber content composites due to the reduced matrix concentration. The result also shows that the friction and wear of hybrids is a function of fiber orientation and epoxy–clay nanocomposite structure formation as studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis.     

Study of carbon fibres and carbon–carbon composites by scanning thermal microscopy

Scanning thermal microscopy (SThM) is a relatively new technique based on atomic force microscopy in which the tip is replaced by an ultra‐miniature temperature probe. This paper reports on a preliminary investigation of the application of SThM in the characterization of the thermal properties of carbon fibres and carbon–carbon (CC) composites. The technique enabled a comparative study to be made of discrete fibre and matrix thermal properties in a series of model unidirectional composites. The thermal images revealed a marked increase in thermal conductivity of the matrix with increasing temperature of treatment and hence confirmed the development of a highly ordered carbon matrix. The results were in qualitative agreement with previously determined values of thermal conductivity from which the separate values of fibre and matrix thermal conductivity had been derived. The technique was also applied to the characterization of samples of unknown processing history, enabling an estimation to be made of the heat treatment and type of the fibres and matrix present in the composite. It was concluded that SThM promises to be a powerful technique for the study of the thermal properties of CC composites and carbon fibres, as it uniquely enables variations in local thermal conductivity to be detected and resolved. Absolute quantification of the technique remains the key to its future widespread acceptance in materials characterization.     

Prediction of Steady-State Wear Coefficients in Adhesive Wear

With an integrated adhesive wear model, Yang's second wear coefficient equation was previously found suitable for modeling the standard wear coefficients for both the transient wear and the steady-state wear of MMC-A, MMC-B, and MMC-C, which are aluminium-based matrix composites containing 10%, 15%, and 20% alumina particles, respectively. In this study, Yang's third wear coefficient equation was used to predict the standard wear coefficient and the net steady-state wear coefficient, respectively, for MMC-D, an aluminium alloy matrix composite containing 20% spherical alumina particles, and an aluminium alloy A6061-T6. As compared with the wear data obtained previously, the average deviations were found to be about 23% and 15%, respectively, for the predicted standard wear coefficients and about 20% and 65% for the predicted net steady-state wear coefficients for the two materials respectively. The high deviation of about 65% obtained for the aluminium alloy was due to the very low wear rate obtained during wear testing with a long sliding distance, with the presence of powdery debris.     

Abrasivity and grindability study of mineral ores

The results of the milling experiments of different mineral ores and laboratory wear testing with different abrasives have shown that the abrasivity of treated materials does not depend only on their hardness, but, to a great extent, on the particle shape of the materials. The grindability of materials milled by collision depends on the properties of materials as well on the treatment parameters (specific treatment energy). The aims of this investigation were (1) to study the abrasivity and the grindability of different minerals (granite, quartzite, etc.) and (2) to predict the relative wear resistance of the materials prospective for the grinding media of milling equipment, using a centrifugal type impact wear tester. Experiments conducted with abrasives of different hardness and with particles of different shape have shown that the wear rate of materials used as wear resistant materials in grinding devices depend more on the angularity of abrasive particles than on their hardness. It was shown that the grindability depends more on the composition and properties (fracture toughness, homogeneity of the structure) than on the hardness of the mineral ores. The main size reduction occurs at first collision, later in the multiple milling of mineral materials particle rounding takes place. The angularity parameter has good correlation with the wear rate in the case of the studied commercial steels as well as with metal matrix composites. Experiments with cermets showed that erosion does not practically depend on abrasive particle shape.     

Effects of temperature on mechanical and tribological properties of dental restorative composite materials

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of temperature on the mechanical and tribological properties of three commercial posterior direct filling resin based restorative composite materials, Synergy (Coltene/Whaledent, Altstätten, Switzerland), Surefil (Dentsply/Caulk, New York, USA) and Alert (Pentron Clinical, Wallingford, USA). The aim of this paper was to evaluate how temperature influences; the hardness, flexural modulus and strength, elastic modulus, and wear of the listed commercial restorative materials.Three commercial resin composites were tested at several temperatures. A closed control system was used to ensure constant test conditions that simulated the temperatures found in an oral environment. For each of the tests, the following mechanical and tribological properties were determined, microhardness (Vickers micro-indentation), elastic modulus (determined both by dynamical methods and by bending tests), flexural resistance and work of fracture parameter (bending tests), and wear (reciprocating tests).Following the tests, the evaluation of the mechanical and tribological properties of the resins suggests that their performance in an oral environment can be significantly affected by temperature, especially the wear resistance. Surefil is the resin least sensitive to temperature variation, while Synergy exhibited the best resistance to wear with respect to temperature variation.     

Wear properties of Saffil/Al,Saffil/Al2O3/Al and Saffil/SiC/Al hybrid metal matrix composites

The purpose of this study is to investigate the wear properties of Saffil/Al, Saffil/Al₂O₃/Al and Saffil/SiC/Al hybrid metal matrix composites (MMCs) fabricated by squeeze casting method. Wear tests were done on a pin-on-disk friction and wear tester under both dry and lubricated conditions. The wear properties of the three composites were evaluated in many respects. The effects of Saffil fibers, Al₂O₃ particles and SiC particles on the wear behavior of the composites were elucidated. Wear mechanisms were analyzed by observing the worn surfaces of the composites. The variation of coefficient of friction (COF) during the wear process was recorded by using a computer. Under dry sliding condition, Saffil/SiC/Al showed the best wear resistance under high temperature and high load, while the wear resistances of Saffil/Al and Saffil/Al₂O₃/Al were very similar. Under dry sliding condition, the dominant wear mechanism was abrasive wear under mild load and room temperature, and the dominant wear mechanism changed to adhesive wear as load or temperature increased. Molten wear occurred at high temperature. Compared with the dry sliding condition, all three composites showed excellent wear resistance when lubricated by liquid paraffin. Under lubricated condition, Saffil/Al showed the best wear resistance among them, and its COF value was the smallest. The dominant wear mechanism of the composites under lubricated condition was microploughing, but microcracking also occurred to them to different extents.     

多组分纤维混杂增强树脂基摩擦材料研究

为提高摩擦材料高温下的摩擦磨损性能和摩擦因数的稳定性,利用正交试验法对多种纤维增强酚醛树脂基摩擦材料的配方进行优化设计,并通过极差分析,探讨多种纤维及含量对摩擦材料性能的影响及摩擦材料的磨损机制.研究表明:混杂纤维增强树脂基摩擦材料有着优异的耐磨性.陶瓷纤维硬度较高,开散混料后能够均匀分布在树脂基体内,对酚醛树脂基摩擦...     

Influence of fibrous and disperse fillers on the frictional load in the polymer matrix

The influence of filler on the wear resistance of polymer composites is investigated. Three types of filler are considered: reinforcing fibers; short fibers; and disperse particles. Formulas for the proportion of the load on the polymer matrix permit optimization of the filler content in the composites, in the light of the frictional conditions.     

Traditional and new approaches to the development of wear‐resistant polymer composites

This overview describes the development of polymeric composites for operation with low friction and wear against steel counterparts, with special emphasis on injection‐mouldable short‐fibre‐reinforced thermoplastics. This work has aimed to optimise their friction and wear properties and to carry out systematic parameter studies using artificial neural networks; information is presented on the systematic development of continuous‐fibre polymer‐based composites with high wear resistance and on the prediction of their load‐bearing capacity using a finite‐element approach. Finally, some new steps towards the development of functionally graded tribo‐materials are described.     

Analysis of Sliding Wear Characteristics of BFS Filled Composites Using an Experimental Design Approach Integrated with ANN

Short fiber-reinforced polymer composites are used in numerous tribological applications. In the present work, an attempt was made to improve the wear resistance of short glass fiber (SGF)-reinforced epoxy composites by incorporation of microsized blast furnace slag (BFS) particles. The effect of various operational variables and material parameters on the sliding wear behavior of these composites was studied systematically. The design of experiments approach using Taguchi's orthogonal arrays was used. This systematic experimentation led to identification of significant variables that predominantly influence the wear rate. The Taguchi approach enabled us to determine optimal parameter settings that led to minimization of the wear rate. The morphology of worn surfaces was then examined by scanning electron microscopy and possible wear mechanisms are discussed. Further, in this article, the potential of using artificial neural networks (ANNs) for the prediction of sliding wear properties of polymer composites is explored using an experimental data set generated from a series of pin-on-disc sliding wear tests on epoxy matrix composites. The ANN prediction profiles for the characteristic tribological properties exhibited very good agreement with the measured results, demonstrating that a well-trained network was created. The simulated results explaining the effect of significant process variables on the wear rate indicated that the trained neural network possessed enough generalization capability to predict wear rate from any input data that are different from the original training data set.     

Fabrication of copper–TiC–graphite hybrid metal matrix composites through microwave processing

The significant requirements such as wear resistance and better tribological properties in addition to good electrical conductivity necessitate the development of copper-based advanced metal matrix composites for electrical sliding contact applications. Though the addition of graphite to copper matrix induces self-lubricating property, the strength of the composite reduces. The improvement in the strength of the composite can be achieved by reinforcing harder ceramic particles such as SiC, TiC, and Al₂O₃. In this paper, the development of hybrid composite of copper metal matrix reinforced with TiC and graphite particles through microwave processing was investigated. The effects of TiC (5, 10, and 15 vol.%) and graphite (5 and 10 vol.%) reinforcements on physical and mechanical properties of microwave-sintered copper–TiC–graphite hybrid composites are discussed in detail. Micrographs show the uniform distribution of reinforcements in copper matrix. Microwave-sintered composites exhibited higher relative density, sintered density, and hardness compared with conventionally sintered ones.     

Wear Performance Forecasting of Chopped Fiber–Reinforced Polymer Composites: A New Approach Using Dimensional Analysis

Solid particle erosion of polymer matrix composites is a complex process in which wear occurs from the target surface by impingement of rigid sand particles in an air medium. The rate of material removal (RMR), also referred to as the erosion rate, mainly depends on target material parameters and the erosion conditions such as impact angle, impact velocity, and erodent size. A new semi-empirical model for prediction of the erosion rate of polymer matrix composites has been developed using a dimensional analysis technique based on Buckingham's π theorem. The predictive model analytically rests upon parameters related to chopped glass fiber composites, erodent (target material properties), and operating variables that mainly affect the erosion process of chopped glass fiber–vinyl ester resin composites. The forecasting ability of the predictive model has been assessed and verified by experimental investigations for chopped glass fiber–reinforced vinyl ester resin (VGF) composites. Validation of the theoretical erosion rates obtained from the predictive model showed that they were in good agreement with the experimentally determined erosion rates, where the average error range was estimated to be ～10 to ～20%.