Friction and Dry Slide Wear of Short Glass Fiber Reinforced Thermoplastic Polyurethane Composites

The friction and dry slide wear behavior of short glass fiber (SGF) reinforced thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) composites was studied in this article. The SGFs were mixed by 20, 30, and 40wt% in TPU matrix. Composites were processed by the injection molding technique. The un-lubricated pin-on-disk wear tests were conducted by varying the load and sliding velocity. The results reveal that the slide wear loss increases with increasing load/sliding velocity. The coefficient of friction increases with increase in sliding velocity. The coefficient of friction and wear rate of the composites decreased with increase in SGF content. Further, 40% SGF reinforced TPU composite exhibited lower friction coefficient and wear rate than 20 and 30% SGF reinforced TPU composites. The worn surface features have been explained using scanning electron microscopy.