Studies on dry sliding wear behaviour of Graphite filled glass-epoxy composites

Polymers and their composites are emerging as viable alternative products to metal-based and alloy-based ones in many common and advanced engineering applications. The feature that makes polymer composites so promising in industrial applications is the possibility of tailoring their properties with special fillers. The comparative performance of glass-epoxy composite with influence of Graphite filler were experimentally investigated under varying applied load, sliding distance and sliding velocity by using a pin-on-disc apparatus. For increased applied load situation, higher weight loss was recorded. Addition of Graphite in glass-epoxy composite exhibits lower weight loss, whose value drops as the percentage of Graphite increases in the composite. SEM analysis has been made to identify the phenomenon of wear as a function of applied load, sliding distance and sliding velocity. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.