Effects of fibre content and relative fibre-orientation on the solid particle erosion of GF/PP composites

The erosive wear behaviour of glass fibre (GF) reinforced thermoplastic polypropylene (PP) composites was studied in a modified sandblasting apparatus as a function of the impact angle (30, 60 and 90degrees), relative fibre-orientation (parallel Pa and perpendicular Pe), fibre length (discontinuous, continuous) and fibre content (40-60 wt.%). The results showed a strong dependence of the erosive wear on the relative fibre-orientation at low impact angles (30), but hardly any difference for 60 and 90 impact angles. In contrast, the fibre length did not affect the erosive wear behaviour especially at high impact angles. The inclusion of brittle GF led to higher erosive wear rates (ER) of the GF/PP composites; the higher the fibre content, the higher was the ER. Nevertheless, the composites still failed in a ductile manner. Different approaches proposed to describe the relationship between ER and fibre content were applied. Best results were generally delivered with the inverse rule of mixture. The modified rule of mixtures proposed for abrasive wear do not seem to apply for erosive wear. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V All rights reserved.