Grey-based Taguchi approach for wear assessment of SiC filled carbon–epoxy composites

The present investigation aims to develop carbon fabric reinforced epoxy composite (C–E) with addition of different weight fraction of silicon carbide filler as secondary reinforcement and to characterize mechanical and tribological properties. The experiments were designed according to Taguchi’s (L9) orthogonal array to optimize experimental runs. In order to assess the wear behavior of composites satisfying multiple performance measure, grey-based Taguchi approach has been adopted. Two-body abrasive wear tests were carried out using pin-on-disc apparatus with four process parameters, filler content, grit size, load and abrading distance. Analysis of variance was applied to determine the significant parameters that affect abrasive wear. The results indicated that, addition SiC particles into C–E composite increased the wear resistance considerably. Highest wear resistance of C–E composite was achieved by incorporation of 10 wt.% of SiC. Observation showed that filler content and abrasive grit size have the most significant influence on abrasive behavior of C–E composite. After the thorough analysis of factors optimal factor setting have been suggested.

► Wear performance enhancement of C–E composite with SiC filler is attempted.
► Systematic tribological behavior of composites was made using grey-based Taguchi method.
► Highest wear resistance of C–E composite was achieved with 10 wt.% of SiC filler.
► Process parameters are correlated to the influence on the abrasive wear.