Tribological properties of the directionally oriented warp knit GFRP composites

Abstract

Recently, directionally oriented warp knit structures have gained prominence as reinforcements in composite materials due to their superior isotropic behaviour compared to other types of textile reinforcements. In the present study, composites prepared from four types of directionally oriented warp knit glass preforms with three different thermoset resins have been considered for the tribological characterisation. The tribological tests have been conducted on a reciprocating sliding test rig with ball-on-plate configuration. The tests were conducted in dry (unlubricated) and wet (aqueous) conditions at a fixed applied load (100 N) by varying the sliding distance. E-glass warp knitted preforms were used for the study including biaxial, biaxial non-woven, triaxial and quadraxial fabrics. The matrices were three different thermoset resins namely polyester, vinyl ester and epoxy resin. 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 The main aim of the study was to identify a composite having the best tribological performance, with regard to types of preform and matrix resin. Moreover, the results obtained from the tests have been used to develop a wastage map for these composites, as a function of sliding distance and type of preform in order to have a clear understanding of the tribological process.