Mechanical and Dry Sliding Wear Behavior of Particulate Fillers CaCO3 and CaSO4 Filled Vinyl ester Composites

The improved performance of polymers and their composites in industries and many other applications by the addition of particulate fillers has shown great advantages and so has lately been the subject of considerable interest. In this paper, mechanical and tribological behavior of particulate fillers CaCO3 and CaSO4 filled vinyl ester composites have been presented. Wear tests were carried out in dry sliding conditions on a pin-on-disc friction and wear test rig. (DUCOM) at room temperature under sliding velocity (1.57, 2.62 and 3.67 m/sec.), normal load (20, 40 and 60 N), filler content (0, 10 and 20 wt.%) and sliding distance (1000, 3000 and 5000 m). The plans of experiments is based on the Taguchi technique, was performed to acquire data in a controlled way. An orthogonal array and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were applied to investigate the influence of process parameters on the coefficient of friction and sliding wear behaviour of these composites. The coefficient of friction and specific wear rate were significantly influenced with increase in both the filler content. The results show that for pure vinyl ester the coefficient of friction and specific wear rate increases with the increase of normal load, sliding velocity and sliding distance. The coefficient of friction and specific wear rate for CaCO3 filler decreases with the increase of filler content. But, for filler CaSO4 the coefficient of friction and specific wear rate decreases at 10 wt.% and then increases at 20 wt.%. It is believed that a thin film formed on stainless steel counterface was seems to be effective in improving the tribological characteristics. The worn surfaces examined through SEM to elucidate the mechanism of friction and wear behaviour.