Ranganatha et al, International Journal of Advanced Engineering Research and Studies

E-ISSN22498974

Research Paper

INVESTIGATION ON THREE BODY ABRASIVE WEAR OF Al2O3 FILLER ON CFRP COMPOSITES

Ranganatha S R1, Chittappa H C2, Tulsidas D1

Address for Correspondence

Mechanical Engineering Department, A.C.S.C.E, Bangalore-560074 2 Mechanical Engineering Department, U.V.C.E, Bangalore-560001

ABSTRACT:
Materials added to the matrix help improving operating properties of a composite. This experimental study has targeted to study on abrasive wear behavior of continuous carbon fiber reinforced with epoxy resin with increasing the percentage of alumina oxide. The three body wear behavior of the composites has been studied according to ASTM-G65 by dry sand wear tester were carried out at different speed ,load and time intervals .experimental results of abrasive wear tests revealed that wear of composites was sensitive to variation of speed, load and time intervals. In carbon fiber reinforced with epoxy resin composite filled with filler alumina oxide .it was observed that, 100rpm without filler content shows better wear resistance and at 150rpm, 200rpm shows better wear resistance at 2% filler addition. In the present research an attempt has been made to understand the three body abrasive wear behavior of carbon fiber reinforced with epoxy resin filled with filler alumina oxide in the range of 2%, 4% and 6% and it is compared with CFRP composites without any filler. KEYWORDS: Polymer matrix composites, Carbon Fiber, Epoxy resin, Conventional filler, Abrasive wear

INTRODUCTION In materials science, wear is the erosion of material from a solid surface by the action of another solid. The study of processes of wear is part of the discipline of tribology. There are five principal wear processes: 1. Adhesive wear 2. Abrasive wear 3. Surface fatigue 4. Fretting wear 5. Erosion wear Abrasive wear may be defined as where hard asperities on one surface move across a softer surface under load penetrate and removes material from the softer surface, leaving grooves [1]. Abrasive wear can be classified as two body, there-body and combination thereof [2]. Two body abrasive wear occurs when a rough surface or fixed abrasive particle slides across a surface to remove material; three-body abrasive wear, where the particles are loose and may move relative to one another, and possibly rotate, during sliding across the wearing surface Most of the abrasive wear problems which arise in engineering and agrzu1tuiI machine components involve three-body wear, while twobody abrasion occurs primarily in material removal operation. Some of the features of these friction and wear test Displays and controls friction, wear and pin temperature (Optional). Dry, 1ubricatd, controlled environment and vacuum tests. Wide sliding speed range. Composite materials offer exciting advantages over traditional monolithic materials. Aggressive research was being carried out worldwide to explore new composites with improved functional properties. Fiber-reinforced polymer composites (FRPCs) were now-a-days used [3] for a wide variety of structural applications as in many aerospace, automotive and chemical industries because of their high strength-toweight and stiffness-to-weight ratios [4]. Hence then can also used for furniture in aircraft, rockets and automotive like doors, windows frame, base of these vehicles hence it reduces the weight so that engine performance increases [5].
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MANUFACTURING OF THE COMPOSITES: Specimen preparation Carbon fibers (360 roving taken from Saint Govion) were reinforced with Epoxy LY 556 resin with filler alumina oxide are manufactured by experimental method like hand lay-up method. Its common name was Bisphenol A Diglycidyl Ether. The low temperature curing epoxy resin (Araldite LY 556) and corresponding hardener (HY951) were mixed in a ratio of 10:1 by weight as recommended [6]. The epoxy resin and the hardener were supplied by Ciba Geiger India Ltd.
Table-1: Characteristics of the two epoxy matrix systems

Table-2: Technical characteristics of the alumina particles, epoxy resin and carbon fiber

L/d: fiber length /diameter

Fabrication selection: Following are the parameters considered while selecting the fabric. Strength (tensile, bending) Resistance corrosion Thermal properties Thickness Design flexibility in fabric-reinforced composite, adding fabric layer to a resin matrix creates one material whose properties cannot be predicted by summing the properties of its components. In fact, one of the main advantages of polymer matrix composite is the complementary nature of the components. For example, thin glass fabric is quite strong. But it is also susceptible to damage. By carefully selecting the fabric, resin and manufacturing process, designers can tailor

Ranganatha et al, International Journal of Advanced Engineering Research and Studies

E-ISSN22498974

composites to meet final requirements that could not be achieved using other materials. While it is this combination of matrix, fabric and manufacturing process that gives composites their superior performance, it is essential to consider these elements separately.
Table-3: By considering the above parameters the compositions are selected

Hand Lay-Up Method of Preparation of Test Specimen: Hand lay-up is the simplest and oldest open molding method of the composite fabrication process. It is a low volume, labor intensive method suited especially for large components. Carbon fiber strands are positioned manually in the open mold, and resin is brushed, over the carbon fiber strands. Entrapped air is removed manually with squeegee and rollers to complete the laminated structure. Hardener initiates curing in the resin system, which hardens the fiber reinforced resin composite without external heat. The lay-up technician is responsible for controlling the amount of resin and the quality of saturation. (Fig-1 to Fig-4)

Fig-1: Applying gel coat with brush or soft roller allow to gel

Fig-2: Applying laminating resin with brush or soft roller allow to gel

PROCESSING OF THE COMPOSITES Abrasive Wear Test The schematic representation of rubber wheel test set up was shown in Fig-6. In the present study, silica sand (density 2.6 g/cm3) was used as the abrasive. The abrasive particles of AFS 60 grade silica sand were angular in shape with sharp edges. The shape of the silica sand used for abrasive wear study was shown in Figure 2. The abrasive was fed at the contacting face between the rotating rubber wheel and the test sample. The tests were conducted at a rotational speed of 100 rpm. The rate of feeding the abrasive was 2555 g/min. The sample was cleaned with acetone and then dried. Its initial weight was determined in a high precision digital balance (0.1mg accuracy) before it was mounted in the sample holder. The abrasives were introduced between the test specimen and rotating abrasive wheel composed of chlorobutyl rubber tyre (hardness: Durometer-A 58-62). The diameter of the rubber wheel used was228 mm. The test specimen was pressed against the rotating wheel at a specified force by means of lever arm while a controlled flow of abrasives abrades the test surface. The rotation of the abrasive wheel was such that its contacting face moves in the direction of sand flow. The pivot axis of the lever arm lies within a plane, which was approximately tangent to the rubber wheel surface and normal to the horizontal diameter along which the load was applied. At the end of a set test duration, the specimen was removed, thoroughly cleaned and again weighed (final weight). The difference in weight before and after abrasion was determined. At least three tests were performed and the average values so obtained were used in this study. The experiments were carried out for loads of 1.5kg at varying time 5, 10, and 15 minutes. Further the disc speed of 100,150and 200rpm. The wear was measured by the loss in weight, which was then converted into specific wear rate using the measured density data. The specific wear rate was defined as the volume loss of the specimen per unit sliding distance per unit applied normal load. The specific wear rate (WS) was calculated from the equation WS = m/t VS.FN Where,
m: mass loss in the test duration (gm), : density of the composite (gm/mm3), t: test duration (sec), Vs: sliding velocity (m/sec), FN: average normal load (N).

Fig-3: Cutting and fitting reinforcement layer consolidate with ribbed roller

Fig-4: consolidated with ribbed roller

Fig-6: Three body abrasive wear set up

Fig-5: Prepared composites specimen IJAERS/Vol. II/ Issue III/April-June,2013/83-85

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Figures 7, 8 and 9 show the wear loss in mass of the samples at constant 1.5 kg load with varying the speed of disc wheel 100rpm, 150 rpm and 200 rpm, respectively. It was clear from these figures that for all the polymer composites used in this study there

Ranganatha et al, International Journal of Advanced Engineering Research and Studies

E-ISSN22498974

was a near linear wear mass loss with varying the percentage of alumina oxide.

lay-up technique. Incorporation of these fillers modifies the wear resistance of the composites. The micro-hardness, density and flexural properties of the composites were also greatly influenced by the type and content of fillers. Abrasive wear loss decreases with increase in the percentage of adding filler alumina oxide to the composites. However, wear loss decreases without any filler content only at disc speed of 100rpm. At 150 and 200rpm speed of disc wear loss decreases with adding filler content. High wear resistance at 2% filler content is obtained. REFERENCES
1. 2. Gates J.D., 1998. Two-body and three-body abrasion: a critical discussion. Wear. 214: 139-146. Neale M.J., Gee M., 2001. Guide to wear problems and testing for industry. New York, USA: William Andrew Publishing Harsha A.P., Tewari U.S., 2002. Tribo performance of polyaryletherketone composites. Polymer. Test. 21: 697-709. Newby, John R., 1992. ASM Handbook: Vol.8, Mechanical Testing (Formerly Ninth Edition, Metals Handbook) International, Metals Park, USA Sanya Maria Gomez., 2011. Numerical Analysis of Carbon Fibre Reinforced Aircraft Wing ISSN 09745904, Volume 04, No 06 SPL, , pp 648-651 Amar Patnaik, Alok Satapathy, Sandhyarani Biswas., 2010. Investigations on Three-Body Abrasive Wear and Mechanical Properties of Particulate Filled Glass Epoxy Composites. A. Kim and I. Kim, Solid particle erosion of CFRP composite with different laminate orientations, Wear vol. 267, pp. 19221926, 2009. Suresha B., Chandramohan G., Siddaramaiah Sampath Kumaran P., Seetharamu, S., 2007. Three-body abrasive wear behavior of carbon and glass fiber reinforced epoxy composites. Mater. Sci. Eng. A. 443: 285-291.

Fig-7: wear loss v/s time at disc speed of 100rpm

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Fig-8: wear loss v/s time at disc speed of 150rpm

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Fig-9: wear loss v/s time at disc speed of 200rpm

From the graphs the wear phenomena has been observed that, Wear loss decreases with increase in time of operation Wear loss increases at 0% alumina filler content at 150 and 200 rpm. and decreasing At 100 rpm as compare to others filler content of 2%, 4%, & 6% The minimum wear loss of 0.56% occurs at 0% filler content at 100rpm The maximum wear loss of 4.4% occurs at 4% filler content at 100rpm So better result obtained without adding filler content at 100 rpm The minimum wear loss of 0.7% occurs at 2% filler content at 150rpm The maximum wear loss of 2.6% occurs at 0% filler content at 150rpm So better result obtained with adding filler content of 2% at 150 rpm The minimum wear loss of 0.75% occurs at 2% filler content at 200rpm The maximum wear loss of 2.8% occurs at 0% filler content at 200rpm So better result obtained with adding filler content of 2% at 200 rpm CONCLUSION Based on the analysis of experimental results, the following conclusions can be drawn. This work shows that successful fabrication of a multi component hybrid composite (using epoxy as matrix, continuous carbon fiber as reinforcement and alumina oxide as filler) was possible by simple hand
IJAERS/Vol. II/ Issue III/April-June,2013/83-85