This research investigated the wear properties of Carbon Nanotube (CNT) filled epoxy polymer and fiber reinforced composites. The CNT/epoxy composites with 0.5 wt% and 1.0 wt% CNT contents were mixed at 50°C for 1 hour at a speed of 400 rpm using mechanical mixer, while woven glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) nanocomposites were fabricated using vacuum bagging technique. The effect of CNT on wear properties was evaluated using dry sliding abrasion wear test that used vitrified bonded silicon carbide as abrasive wheels. The mass loss and specific wear rate curves show that wear properties of epoxy polymer and GFRP composite systems were enhanced when CNT was added. Epoxy polymer and GFRP nanocomposites showed the highest wear resistance when CNT content was 1.0 wt% and 0.5 wt% respectively. The CNT-filled composite showed improvement till up to 78.9 % from its pure system. This suggested that the load transferability between CNT and epoxy was more effective in nanomodified systems than in its pure systems. Therefore, adding CNT improves the wear properties of epoxy polymer and woven GFRP composite.
In this paper, the wear properties of nano-filled Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) composite are
studied based on the effects of the architecture of the glass fibre and test environment. Wear tests were
done under two different conditions; dry environment test and wet environment test. The dry and wet
environment tests were conducted using the abrasion resistance tester (TR600) and slurry erosion tester,
respectively; the slurry mixture of sand and water were used in the wet environment test. Two types of
glass fibres architecture were understudied; unidirectional and woven. It was found that 3 wt.% filler
content is the optimum amount to be used for the GFRP composite. Unidirectional nano-filled GFRP
composites exhibited the lowest wear rates due to their closely aligned glass fibre arrangement. The
unidirectional fibre alignment provided less empty spots for the interlocking process to take place, thus
reducing the ploughing action of wearing. However, when tested in the wet environment, effects of
other testing parameters such as the architecture of fibre and filler contents became less significant. The
composites, which were tested in wet environment, showed the lowest wear rates compared to the ones
tested in the dry environment. This is due to the presence of water that helps to wash away the pulverised
glass fibre, thus reducing the friction and the three-body wear effect