Reciprocating Friction and Wear Characteristics of Al Particulate Glass Epoxy Composites
An experimental study has been carried out to investigate the reciprocating friction and wear characteristics of woven glass epoxy composites filled with Al particulate using a reciprocating friction and wear tester. The fiber weight fraction has been kept constant at 60 wt% and Al wt% is varied as 0, 5, 10, and 15%. The composite is fabricated in hand lay-up technique followed by light compression moulding. Friction and wear behavior under dry reciprocating condition has been presented as function of reciprocating distance keeping reciprocating frequency and normal load constant at 30 Hz and 1.0 Kg respectively. Composites having 5 and 10 wt% Al powder exhibit less friction and wear loss as compared to unfilled glass epoxy composite whereas 15 wt% Al filled glass epoxy composite reports highest friction and wear loss. An attempt has been made to observe the distribution of fiber and Al particles in the composite, and to correlate the wear behavior using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) observations.