Abstract

Synthesis and tribological behavioral studies of polymerÃ?Â?Ã?Â?Ã?Â?Ã?Â?silica nanocomposites

Author(s): D.Lingaraju, K.Ramji, M.Pramila Devi, U.Rajya Lakshmi

In the present investigation, Tribological and mechanical properties as well as the effects of silica nano particles as fillers in glass–epoxy composites, have been discussed. The composites employed in the present study have been fabricated using hand lay-up technique. The mechanical properties such as tensile strength, tensile modulus, and elongation at break, flexural strength and hardness have been investigated in accordance with ASTM standards. This paper deals with the effect of nano silica addition on improving the mechanical properties of epoxy polymer and glass fiber-reinforced epoxy-silica hybrid composites. The nano silica used in the present system were treated with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane. The effect of variants in sliding speed, time and applied load on the wear behavior of polymer nanocomposites is studied by measuring the weight changes and observing the surface features using Scanning Electron Microscope. Sliding speed, time and loads in the range of 640-1000RPM, 300-900sec and 5-25N respectively were used in the experiments with wear test pin having flat face in contact with hardening rotating steel disc. It is observed that wear rate increaseswith the increasing applied load, time and sliding speeds. We succeeded in improving the impact, tensile and tribological properties on these novel class of materials. Without sacrificing other assets to these materials, the polymer silica nanocomposites would be more complete materials with respect to improved properties in a balanced fashion that could find a variety of applications.