Wear and Friction Behaviour of CGRP and WGRP Composites Subjected to Dry Sliding

Abstract

An experimental investigation has been undertaken on chopped strand mat 450-R-glass fiber and woven 600-glass fabric reinforced polyester (CGRP and WGRP) composites to study their tribological performance. In the present work, the tribological characteristics of both CGRP and WGRP composites were measured in three principal sliding directions relative to the chopped glass mat (CSM) and woven glass fabric (WGF) orientations in the composites. The friction and wear results are presented as function of normal loads, test duration/sliding distances, and sliding velocities for P, AP, and N-orientation of both CGRP and WGRP. The results of friction and wear of CGRP and WGRP composite were strongly influenced by all the test parameters. For both CGRP and WGRP composites, the highest friction coefficient and wear rates were observed for N-orientation. Fiber fracture, crack, fragmentation, peeling off, and debris formation and micro crack initiation in the matrix are the characteristics features of the worn surfaces that observed by SEM.