Effect of hygrothermal aging on mechanical and tribological behaviors of short glass-fiber-reinforced PA66

Abstract

Mechanical and tribological behaviors of polyamide 66 reinforced by various weight fractions of short glass fiber were investigated. All studied materials were subjected to accelerated hygrothermal aging tests. Three-point bending flexural tests were carried out to determine the mechanical behavior. Reciprocating tribotester was employed to determine friction and wear behaviors. Tribological tests were carried out, without lubrication and under ambient conditions. Ball on flat contact configuration was adopted for friction tests. Wear tests were carried out against an abrasive counterface. Results showed that flexural strength and elastic modulus increased when increasing glass fiber rate for all tested materials. In the contrary, the coefficient of friction and the wear resistance decreased. Results showed that the hygrothermal aging decreased the flexural features and increased the coefficient of friction. The effect of hygrothermal aging on the wear resistance depends on the reinforcement rate.