Wear Behavior of a Glass Fiber-Reinforced PEI Composite

Abstract

The wear behavior of a thermoplastic polymer, polyetherimide, and of a composite with this polymer as matrix and a reinforcement of glass fiber fabric has been analyzed. The test was carried out according to the Standard ASTM G99 using a device pin-on-disk. Obviously, the reinforced material has higher wear strength than the nonreinforced material. Also, the evolution of the wear with the temperature has been studied at ambient temperature and at 50, 100, 150, and 200°C. The effect of the temperature is very important because when it was increased the wear was increased, except to 200°C. At 200°C there was an important decrease. The test temperature was measured in the inner of the furnace and when it was 200°C in this zone, the temperature in the contact point was higher and it would be close to glass transition temperature of the polymer (~217°C), this is the reason for an important micro-structural variation in the material.