Dry sliding wear behaviour of Ta/NbC filled glass-epoxy composites at elevated temperatures

In this work an attempt was made to evaluate wear loss, specific wear rate and coefficient of friction of Glass-Epoxy (G-E) composites with and without Tantalum Niobium Carbide (Ta/NbC) filler. A vacuum assisted resin transfer moulding (VARTM) technique was employed to fabricate the composite specimens. The fabricated wear specimens were tested by using pin-on-disk test rig at various temperatures viz., 30, 60, 90 and 120° C at normal applied loads of 10 N and 20 N. Sliding velocity of the disc of 1.5 m/s was maintained and test was continued for each sample up to a sliding distance of 5000 m. The wear loss in both the composites increases with increase in temperature and applied normal load. However, Ta/NbC particulate filler incorporated G-E composite exhibits lower wear rate and higher coefficient of friction as compared to unfilled G-E composite. The features of worn surfaces of the specimens were examined under scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and findings are analysed.