SOLID PARTICLE EROSION OF THERMOPLASTIC RESINS REINFORCED BY SHORT FIBERS

Experiments were carried out to study the effects of matrix materials, reinforcement fibers, impact angle and particle velocity on the solid particle erosion behavior of thermoplastic resins reinforced by short fibers. All of the previous research on the erosion of fiber-reinforced plastics deals with steady state erosion, and no work has been done on the initial process of erosion. So special attention was focussed on an incubation period of erosion. Two types of fiber-reinforced plastics were used for erosion tests. One was a new type of thermoplastic polyimide (New-TPI) resin reinforced by short glass or carbon fibers. The other was polyetheretherketone (PEEK) reinforced by short glass or carbon fibers. The fiber-reinforced plastics with different fiber contents were utilized as test materials to examine the effect of fiber content. Initial and eroded surfaces of test specimens were observed with a scanned electron microscope and an optical microscope. The results of the experiments show that the mass of an incubation period is strongly dependent on initial surface roughness. The erosion rate at a steady state depends on the matrix material and on the volume content of fibers, regardless of fiber type.