Investigation of organo-modified montmorillonite loading effect on the abrasion resistance of hybrid composites

The carbon fabric reinforced epoxy (C–E) with different loading of organo-modified montmorillonite (oMMT) hybrid composites were prepared using hand lay-up technique followed by autoclave curing. The effects of oMMT loading on mechanical properties and three-body abrasive wear behaviour of hybrid composites have been investigated. The three-body abrasive wear tests with different loads/abrading distances were performed at room temperature using a Rubber wheel abrasion test apparatus. Experimental results obtained from tensile tests indicate that the tensile strength and modulus of hybrid composites increases with the increment of oMMT nanoparticles. Furthermore, the C–E specimens with 5 wt% oMMT loading exhibit superior tensile strength than those that do not contain any oMMT nanoparticles. The abrasive wear test results showed that the wear volume increased with increasing abrading distance and the specific wear rate decreased with increasing abrading distance/load for all hybrid composites. Among the oMMT loaded hybrid composite samples tested, 5 wt% oMMT loaded hybrid composite showed a promising trend. Free volume property of the hybrid composites measured from positron lifetime spectroscopy seems to correlate well with the mechanical and wear properties. Finally, the different wear mechanisms were observed on the worn surface of the hybrid composites including micro and macro cracks, pitting, as well as debonding and breakage of the fibers by scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy coupled with vision measure scope.

► Hybrid composites were prepared by compression molding and cured in autoclave. ► Incorporation of nano-oMMT improved the mechanical and tribological properties. ► Positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy was used to correlate mechanical and tribological data. ► Worn surface of the samples were discussed for different wear mechanisms. ► Generation of wear data for power plant applications.