Comparison of tribological behaviour for Nylon6-Al-Al2O3 and ABS parts fabricated by fused deposition modelling This paper reports a low cost composite material that is more wear-resistant than conventional ABS

In the present work, a comparison of the tribological properties of Nylon6-Al-Al2O3 and ABS parts fabricated using the fused deposition modelling (FDM) method is made. Under dry sliding conditions at room temperature, the sliding wear behaviour of FDM-built parts with three different proportions of Al and Al2O3 was investigated. Loads of 5, 10, 15 and 20 were applied at a sliding velocity of 1.36 m/s for durations of 5 and 10 minutes. The results show that all FDMbuilt Nylon6-Al-Al2O3 components have better wear resistance as compared to their FDM-built ABS counterparts. Further, the influences of filler materials on various wear mechanisms such as adhesion, abrasion, etc. are identified. It was also observed that the composite materials prepared with different proportions are more wear resistant, having less friction coefficients and friction force than the commercially used ABS material for FDM components.