Wear and friction behaviour of soft particles filled random direction short GFRP composites

The random direction short E-glass fibre reinforced epoxy resin composites filled with the particles of mica and tricalcium phosphate (TCP) were prepared by hand lay-up method. The wear and friction behaviour of random direction short E-glass fibre reinforced epoxy resin (GFRP) composites sliding against AISI-1045 steel in a pin-on-disc configuration were evaluated on a TR-20LE wear and friction tester. The microhardness, density, tensile strength and compressive strength of the filled and unfilled mica as well as TCP particles were determined. The morphology of the worn surfaces of the unfilled and filled random E-glass fibre composites and the transfer films were analyzed with the scanning electron microscope. It was found that the particles as the fillers contributed significantly to improve the mechanical properties and wear resistance of the E-glass fibre. This was because the particulates as the fillers contributed to enhance the bonding strength between the fibre and the epoxy resin. Moreover, the wear and friction properties of the random E-glass fibre composites were reduced by increasing filler weight of particles.