Effect of particulate fillers on mechanical and abrasive wear behaviour of polyamide 66/polypropylene nanocomposites

This article presents the mechanical and three-body abrasive wear behaviour of Polyamide 66/Polypropylene (PA66/PP) blend, nanoclay filled PA66/PP and short carbon fiber (diameter 6-7 mu m and length 3-4 mm) reinforced PA66/PP nanocomposites. All particulate-filled PA66/PP composites were prepared by using twin screw extrusion followed by injection molding. Maleic anhydride polypropylene (MAgPP) was used as the compatibilizer. The mechanical properties of particulate-filled PA66/PP composites were studied, and the three-body abrasive wear behaviour was assessed by rubber wheel abrasion test under different loads/abrading distances. The results indicate that addition of nanoclay/short carbon fiber in PA66/PP have significant influence on wear under varied abrading distance/loads. Further, it was found that nanoclay filled PA66/PP composites exhibited lower wear rate compared to short carbon fiber filled PA66/PP composites. In addition, the worn surface morphology of the samples was also discussed. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.