A Study on Tribological Behavior of Alumina-Filled Glass-Epoxy Composites Using Taguchi Experimental Design

This article describes the development of alumina-filled glass fiber-reinforced epoxy matrix composites and compared the experimental results obtained from Taguchi experimental design with the reported theoretical erosion model. An exhaustive literature survey indicated that six control factors, viz. impact velocity, filler content, erodent temperature, impingement angle, stand-off distance, and erodent size, predominantly affect on erosion behavior of polymer composites. This systematic experimentation has led to determination of significant process parameters and material variables that predominantly influence the wear rate of different particulates-filled glass fiber-reinforced composites. The comparative study indicates that although the alumina-filled composites exhibit relatively inferior mechanical properties, their erosion wear performance is better than that of the published literature red mud-filled glass fiber-reinforced composites (S. Biswas and A. Satapathy, Materials and Design, vol. 30, 2009). The glass fiber-reinforced epoxy matrix composite filled with alumina content showed semiductile erosion behavior with peak erosion rate occurring at 60 degrees impingement angle. The morphology of eroded surfaces is examined by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and possible erosion mechanisms are discussed.