Tribological studies of glass fabric-reinforced polyamide composites filled with CuO and PTFE

The effect of glass fabric reinforcement on the friction and wear behavior of nylon was investigated for varying fabric proportions. The effect of the addition of particulate CuO filler, and the filler and PTFE to the glass fabric-reinforced composites on the tribological properties of the composites was also studied. The composites with different proportions of fiber, filler and PTFE were compression molded and tested for friction and wear in a pin-on-disk configuration. It was found that the proportion of glass fabric for optimum wear resistance was about 20% by volume. The addition of CuO filler did not contribute to improvement in the wear resistance of the fabric-reinforced composites because a good transfer film did not develop in the presence of fibers and the composites became fragile. PTFE was very effective in reducing the wear of filled and fabric-reinforced composites. The friction and wear behavior of these composites has been interpreted in terms of their ability to form transfer film on the steel counterface and the changes occurring on the pin surface. The composition for maximum wear resistance was 25 vol.% CuO-11.3 vol.% glass fabric-10 vol.% PTFE-nylon.