Effect of Aluminum Filler on Friction and Wear Characteristics of Glass Epoxy Composites

An experimental study was carried out to investigate the dry sliding friction and wear characteristics of woven glass epoxy composites filled with Al particulates sliding against steel using a pin-on-disc tribometer. The glass fiber weight fraction was kept constant at 60 wt% and Al wt% varied as 0, 5, 10, and 15%. The composite was fabricated by a hand lay-up technique followed by light compression molding. Friction and wear behavior under dry sliding condition are presented as a function of sliding speed varying between 1-5 m/s and normal load ranging between 10-40 N. Friction characteristics of composites depend strongly on a combination of filler content, sliding speed and load. Wear loss increases with both sliding speed and load. Incorporation of a smaller amount of Al filler reduces wear loss compared to un-filled glass epoxy composites. An attempt has also 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.