Mechanical and abrasive wear characterization of bidirectional and chopped E-glass fiber reinforced composite materials

Bi-directional and chopped E-glass fiber reinforced epoxy composites are fabricated in five different (15, 20, 25, 30 and 35) wt% in an epoxy resin matrix. The mechanical characterization of these composites is performed. The three body abrasive wear behavior of fabricated composites has been assessed under different operating conditions. Abrasive wear characteristics of these composites are successfully analysed using Taguchi's experimental design scheme and analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results obtained from these experiments are also validated against existing microscopic models of Ratner-Lancaster and Wang. It is observed that quite good linear relationships is held between specific wear rate and reciprocal of ultimate strength and strain at tensile fracture of these composites which is an indicative that the experimental results are in fair agreement with these existing models. Out of all composites fabricated it is found that tensile strength of bi-directional E-glass fiber reinforced composites increases because of interface strength enhancement. Chopped glass fiber reinforced composites are observed to perform better than bi-directional glass fiber reinforced composites under abrasive wear situations. The morphology of worn composite specimens has been examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to understand about dominant wear mechanisms. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.