The wear characteristics of thermoset polymers composites filled with ceramic particles

This article focuses primarily on the evaluation of the hardness and tribological performance of epoxy resin integrated ceramic particles. In particular, epoxy was filled with tungsten carbide (WC) and silicon nitride (SN), using various weight fractions (0, 10, 20 and 30%). The hand-lay route was employed to prepare the composite samples after a surface treatment of the filler particles. The homogeneity of the samples were evaluated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The influence of ceramic fillers on tribological performance was presented as wear loss and friction coefficient which were measured at different normal loads of (25, 50, 100) N with two sliding velocities (5, and 7.5) m/s while the sliding distance remained constant. In addition, the influence of the subjected load on the tribological performance was also investigated. The results indicate that filling epoxy with tungsten carbide (WC) and silicon nitride (SN) enhanced the hardness and tribological performance of the epoxy resin. However, tungsten carbide performed better than silicon nitride. Moreover, raising the subjected load increases coefficients of friction for both (5, and 7.5) m/s sliding velocities.