Three-body abrasive wear behaviour of polyaryletherketone composites

An experimental investigation was carried out to study the effect of reinforcement fibres, solid lubricants, mass of abrasives and load in three-body abrasive wear situations on various polyaryletherketone (PAEK) matrix. Three-body abrasive wear studies were carried out using a rubber wheel abrasion test (RWAT) rig. In the present investigation, angular silica sand particles of size ranging between 150 and 300 μm were used as dry and loose abrasives. The ketone/ether ratios among the selected PAEKs have shown significant influence on three-body abrasive wear behaviour at higher load. It was observed that fibre reinforcement is detrimental to the abrasive wear resistance of neat PAEK matrix. A combination of fibre and particulate filler is more detrimental to abrasive wear performance. Efforts were made to correlate the abrasive wear performance of the composites with appropriate mechanical properties. The Ratner–Lancaster plot showed a linear correlation. Scanning electron microscopy was used to observe the worn surfaces and to understand the mechanisms involved in the removal of the material.