Solid particle erosion of unidirectional fibre reinforced thermoplastic composites

In the present study, the solid particle erosion behaviour of neat PEEK matrix and unidirectional glass fibre (GF) and carbon fibre (CF) reinforced polyetheretherketone ( PEEK) and polyetherketoneketone (PEKK) composites has been studied. The erosion experiments have been carried out by using silica sand particles (200 +/- 50 mu m) as an erodent. Steady state erosion rates of these composites have been evaluated at different impact angles and impact velocities. The neat PEEK exhibited peak erosion rate at 30 degrees impingement angle whereas the composites exhibited a semi-ductile behaviour with peak erosion rate at 60 degrees impact angle. The erosion rate of the glass fibre reinforced composites was higher than that of the carbon fibre reinforced composites. The results show that the fibre orientation has a significant influence on erosion rate only at lower impact angles. The erosion rate of the composites was higher when the particles impact perpendicular to the fibre direction than parallel to the fibres. The morphology of eroded surfaces was observed under scanning electron microscope and damage mechanisms were discussed. (C) 2009 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.