Wear characteristics of thermoset composite under high stress three-body abrasive

Three-body abrasive wear of chopped strand mat glass fibres reinforced polyester (CGRP) was studied for three principal orientations of the fibres, i.e. parallel orientation (P-O), anti-parallel orientation (AP-O) and normal orientation (N-O). The tests were carried out under high stress conditions. A correlation between the specific wear rate and mechanical properties was established. As a result, CGRP composite exhibited better wear characteristic in P-O than in AP-O and N-O. Different wear mechanisms were observed on the worn surfaces of the materials, including pitting, micro- and/or macro-cracks, as well as breakage and debonding of the fibres.