Investigation of erosive wear behavior and physical properties of SGF and/or calcite reinforced ABS/PA6 composites

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesb.2012.04.074Get rights and content

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the erosive wear behavior of glass fiber, CaCO3 particle and glass fiber/CaCO3 hybrid reinforced ABS/PA6 blend based composites. The samples were prepared by using melt mixing and injection molding techniques. The mechanical, thermal, morphological properties and erosive wear behavior were investigated in terms of reinforcing agent type and composition. It was observed that the tensile strength and modulus values of hybrid composites gave a value between tensile strength and modulus values of only fiber reinforced composites and only particle reinforced composites. From DSC analysis it was revealed that Tg and Tm of composites were not significantly affected by reinforcement; however, degree of crystallinity was found to be sensitive to reinforcement type and composition. The impingement angle was found to have a significant effect on the erosive wear behavior. The results indicated that composite materials exhibited maximum erosion rate at impact angle of 30° conforming their ductile erosion behavior. In order to investigate wear mechanisms, eroded surface analysis was done by scanning electron microscopy. Surface analysis showed that repeated impact of hard silica sand particles caused a local removal of the matrix from the fiber surface and led to form craters on the surface of the composite material.

Introduction

Polyamide 6 (PA6) is a major class of engineering plastics with a well balance of chemical resistance, wear resistance, mechanical and thermal properties. On the other hand, it has some drawbacks associated with its processing instability, high mold shrinkage, dimensional instability and high water affinity [1]. In addition, acrylonitrile–butadiene-styrene (ABS) has high toughness, dimensional stability and good surface texture [2]. However, ABS shows poor solvent resistance, insufficient mechanical (tensile and flexural) strength, and low dimensional stability at high temperatures [3].

The blends of PA6 with ABS have commercial interest because of the relatively low cost of ABS and its contribution to the blend’s dimensional stability, processability and high toughness [4].

PA6 and ABS blends or their composites are often used as automotive components where erosive wear occurs, such as mirror housing, front shield and axle cap [5]. In general the problems associated with erosion are the costs arising from the replacement of worn parts, increased labor, loss of productivity and indirect losses of energy. Therefore erosion of polymers and their composites have attracted both academic and industrial attention.

The erosive wear behavior of different polymeric materials is studied by various researchers in the literature. Arjula et al. investigated the erosive wear behavior of six types of high-performance thermoplastic polymers [polyetherimide (PEI), polyetheretherketone (PEEK), polyetherketone (PEK), polyphenylene sulfide (PPS), polyethersulfone (PES), and polysulfone (PSU)] [6]. They found that the polymers showed maximum erosion rate at 30° impact angle and minimum at 90° impact angle, indicating ductile behavior. Besides it was observed that mechanical properties of the selected polymers played an important role in controlling the erosive wear behavior. Rajesh et al. studied the erosive wear behavior of various polyamides with different methylene to amide ratio in the backbone [7]. They also used two different impact angles and impact velocities with silica sand as erodent. It was concluded that the same amount of particles at higher impact velocity caused significant damage at the sample surface and resulted in higher erosion rate.

Yilmaz et al. investigated tensile strength, hardness and erosive wear behaviors of CaCO3 filled unsaturated polyester/glass fiber (UPR/GFR) composites [8]. They examined the effect of the CaCO3 particle size and loading level. The results showed that the higher the percentage and the smaller the particle size of the CaCO3, the higher the strength and the erosive resistance of the composites. The maximum erosive wear rate was seen at 90° impingement angle. Miyazeki et al. reported the erosive wear behavior of ABS and its glass-fiber-reinforced composites as a function of the angle of impact and the particle velocity [9]. It was found that the erosion rate was larger in a fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) than in a neat resin. In this study, fiber–matrix interfacial strength was emphasized. The erosion rate of fiber reinforced ABS decreased with the increase of the interfacial strength between matrix and fibers. Yilmaz studied the influence of annealing duration on the erosive wear behavior of CaCO3 mineral particulate (25% w/w)/short glass fiber (SGF) (40% w/w) and SGF (40% w/w) reinforced polyphenylenesulphide (PPS) composites [10]. It was concluded that the erosion rate was maximum at 60° impingement angle and minimum at 90° for composite materials. Weight loss values of calcite/SGF composites were higher than SGF reinforced composite samples.

To the best of our knowledge, the combined effects of glass fibers and particulate filler on the erosion characteristics of ABS/PA6 blends have not been published. In this study, only glass fiber, only CaCO3 particle and glass fiber/CaCO3 hybrid reinforced ABS/PA6 blend based composites were prepared. The variation of mechanical, thermal, morphological properties and erosive wear behavior of each composite were examined in terms of reinforcing agent type, composition and impingement angle. In addition to that, correlation between the erosive wear behavior and physical properties of composites, were investigated.

Section snippets

Materials and methods

ABS/PA6 (Triax 1120) was used as matrix material and was provided in granule form from Lanxess. Glass fiber (PA1, Cam Elyaf A.Ş) and CaCO3 (Omya A.Ş) were used as reinforcement materials.

CaCO3, glass fibers and CaCO3/glass fiber reinforced ABS/PA6 composites were prepared by using melt mixing method. The compounding of PA6/ABS and different ratio reinforced material were carried out in a laboratory scale co-rotating twin-screw mini extruder (DSM Xplore 15 ml Micro-compounder) at 235 °C, 100 rpm.

Mechanical properties of composites

The representative stress–strain curves for neat-matrix, 10% and 20% calcite reinforced composites are shown in Fig. 3; and representative stress–strain curves for 20% SGF reinforced and 20% SGF-20% calcite reinforced composites are shown in Fig. 4. In addition, Fig. 5, Fig. 7, Fig. 8 exhibit the dependence of tensile strength, elongation at break and modulus of composites, respectively, with respect to filler type and loading level.

It is seen that the characteristics for neat matrix in tensile

Conclusions

The aim of this study was to investigate the erosive wear behavior of only glass fiber reinforced, only CaCO3 particle reinforced and glass fiber/CaCO3 hybrid reinforced ABS/PA6 blends based composites. The conclusions drawn from the results of the study are as follows:

  • (1)

    In its neat form, ABS/PA6 blends were ductile. However it became brittle as it was reinforced by calcite particles and/or short glass fibers, especially at higher loading levels. The modulus of the composites exhibited an

Acknowledgment

This study was granted by Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) (Project No.: 110M025).

References (23)

  • S. Mohammadian-Gezaz et al.

    Study of the properties of compatibilized ABS/PA6 blends using response surface methodology

    J Vinyl Addit Technol

    (2009)
  • Cited by (39)

    • The effects of toolpath and glass fiber reinforcement on bond strength and dimensional accuracy in material extrusion of a hot melt adhesive

      2022, Additive Manufacturing
      Citation Excerpt :

      However, adhesion between the fibers and matrix is limited, as evidenced by the surfaces of debonded fibers, which are generally smooth with small traces of matrix material. This appearance is consistent with weak adhesion between the matrix and the fibers [29,49]. Poor adhesion between the matrix and fibers leads to ineffective stress transfer [50] and reduced mechanical properties.

    • Preparation of double-walled polysulfone/graphene oxide microcapsules with high thermal stability and their application in self-lubricating polyamide

      2022, Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects
      Citation Excerpt :

      Graphite [11,12], graphene [13], MoS2 [14,15], nano-montmorillonite [16], and polymer solid lubricants such as polytetrafluoroethylene [17,18], polyimide, etc., are commonly used as solid lubricants. There are also many reports using carbon fiber [19,20] and inorganic particles (CaCO3 [21], SiO2 [22], CNTs [23]) to improve the friction properties of PA6. However, solid lubricants have some defects, such as high friction coefficients, poor dispersion, and poor self-repairing properties of lubricating films, while plastic solid lubricants have low structural strength and poor thermal conductivity, which greatly limit their application range.

    • Evaluation of hybrid effect on the thermomechanical and mechanical properties of calcite/SGF/PP hybrid composites

      2018, Composites Part B: Engineering
      Citation Excerpt :

      Addition of calcite particles reduced the relative crystallinity because of the increased viscosity and restrained chain mobility. Thus, the calcite is used to reduce the shrinkage, improve thermal stability, control the viscosity and enhance surface quality [10]. The mechanical and thermomechanical properties of PP may also be improved by short fibers.

    • The enzyme electrocatalytic immunosensor based on functional composite nanofibers for sensitive detection of tumor suppressor protein p53

      2015, Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry
      Citation Excerpt :

      Nylon 6 (PA6), a major class of engineering plastics, is a semiconducting polymer. The electrospun PA6 nanofibers have extensive range of applications owing to the outstanding durability, chemical and abrasion resistance [25]. The blends of PA6 with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have commercial interest because of the unique mechanical and electrical properties of carbon nanotubes and its contribution to the blend's dimensional stability, processability and high toughness.

    View all citing articles on Scopus
    View full text