Three-body abrasive wear behaviour of particulate-filled glass-vinyl ester composites

The incorporation of silicon carbide (SiC) and graphite fillers on three-body abrasive wear behaviour of glass-vinyl ester (G-V) composites has been investigated. Dry sand/rubber wheel abrasion tests (RWAT) were carried out at 200 rpm test speed. The tests were carried out at 22 and 32 N loads by varying the abrading distance from 270 to 1080 m in steps of 270 m. The worn surfaces were examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The wear volume and specific wear rate of G-V composite reduces significantly on the addition of SiC filler. Graphite filler, however, performed poorly resulting deterioration in wear performance of SiC-filled G-V composite. The SEM studies indicate the reasons for failure of composites and influencing parameters. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.