EXPERIMENTAL AND NUMERICAL INVESTIGATION OF EPOXY HYBRID POLYMER COMPOSITE REINFORCED WITH ZrB2 AND PTFE PARTICLES USING A PIN-ON-DISC TRIBOMETER

Abstract

Thermal and mechanical performance evaluations of sliding systems are required to avoid the failure of surfaces due to high temperature and a stress focus on a small contact area. This work investigates the thermal and tribological performance of an epoxy composite reinforced with zirconium diboride (ZrB2) and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) particles. Three-dimensional thermal and mechanical finite-element models are used to study the heat generated (heat flux), the temperature field, the stresses, and the deformation of a pin-on-disc system during sliding. These finite-element (FE) results help to study the effect of the coefficient of friction, load, and sliding speed on the contact temperature and stress distribution, which in turn affect the wear. The contact temperature for the epoxy hybrid composite is decreased by 38.9 % due to the addition of fillers. When the load is incremented by 10 N, the contact temperature and stress increase by 25 % and 92 %, respectively. Accurate calculations of the heat generation and stress distribution are considered the key to predicting the sliding system’s performance, the wear characteristics, and the stability of the contacting surfaces.