Investigation on the Influence of Fiber Orientation on Sliding Wear and Frictional Characteristics of Glass-Carbon and Twaron-Carbon Hybrid Composites

Thermo-set based composites using epoxy resin systems currently dominate the composite industry. Glass-reinforced epoxy composites are extensively used in the structural composites of aircraft industry due to low shrinkage, ease of fabrication, chemical resistance, and higher mechanical and electrical properties. The above characteristics coupled with techno-economic considerations are mainly responsible for their extensive use in aerospace, automobile and marine engineering applications. The fiber reinforced epoxy composites offer high strength, stiffness, corrosion resistance, long fatigue life besides their ability to form complex shapes has also widen the scope of structural applications [1-3]. However, the advent of high performance fibres (Carbon, aramids) has enhanced the scope of advanced structural composites as the above composites outperform the conventional glass-epoxy composites due to their superior mechanical properties. In recent years, more research work is being directed towards exploring the potential advantages of high performance fibres using hybrid concept. High temperature and high performance fibres based on Carbon, aramid fibers and their hybrids are extensively used in various configurations to meet wear and friction properties for specific applications [4]. Lhymnhas reported that the orientation of the carbon fibers can significantly alter the abrasive wear performance of polyphenylene composites independent of the applied load and speed [5]. Theoretically, it was predicted that the composites containing carbon fibers in the parallel direction and aramid fibers in the normal direction would be an ideal option for high wear performance [6,7]. Bidirectional orientation of fibers, among the different orientations like unidirectional (UD), bidirectional (BD) and multidirectional (MD), provides unique solutions and enhances the functional performance to meet critical requirements of ever increasing demands on advanced materials. The concept of hybrid composites using high performance fibres has enhanced the scope of structural composites and can be suitably engineered to meet the desired performance besides offering reduction in weight and cost thereby enhancing the scope and capability of a designer to meet specific functional requirements in biaxial directions. The use of hybrid fibre systems will also address some of the important aspects related to drapability, strain to failure ratio while fabricating critical and irregular shaped components and provide conformability to highly complex contours. The typical characteristics exhibited by the hybrid composites are essentially a function of nature of fiber, structure induced parameters and the Volume 3 Issue 4 2017