Wear, 137 (1990)

MECHANICAL
REINFORCED

251-

251

266

AND TRIBOLOGICAL BEHAVIOR

WITH SHORT GLASS FIBERS*

OF POLYESTER

S. BAHADUR and Y. ZHENG

~ec~~ic~l

E~gineeri~

(Received April 4,1989;

&paFtment,

iowa State University,

revised August 8,1989;

Ames, fowa 50011

(U.S.A.)

accepted October 11, 1989)

Summary

The effect of the reinforcement of thermosett~g polyester with short

glass fibers has been investigated in terms of the resulting mechanical properties and tribological behavior. The optimum catalyst proportion for maximum strengthening was determined and the effect of coupling agent on
both the mechanical and the tribological properties was investigated. The
proportion by weight of fiber-glass used for the re~forcement of the polymer was varied from 0 to 50%. The friction and wear-behavior was studied
as a function of sliding speed and fiber-glass proportion. The possibility of
oxidation of the unsaturated cross-linked polyester during sliding was examined by infrared spectroscopy. Scanning electron microscopy was used to
study the wear surfaces. The variation in wear rate was finally examined in
terms of observations related to the variation in coefficient of friction, temperature rise, wear particle size and electron microscopy studies.

1. Introduction

There are a wide range of applications for polymers in wear-related

situations such as bearings, gears, sprockets, sleeves, valve guides, seals,
brakes etc. The attraction of polymers for these applications lies in their high
specific strength, low coefficient of friction, favorable wear characteristics,
ease of processing and economic feasibility [ I]. A number of material-processing strategies have been used to improve the wear performance of polymers. These include the incorporation of organic and inorganic fillers as well
as the addition of glass, carbon or aramid fibers. The addition of these
second-phase materials results not only in improved tribological properties
but also in superior physical and mechanical properties.
Because of the technolo~c~ importance of composite materials, the
friction and wear behavior of reinforced polymers has been actively investig*Some results from this paper were presented at the 60th Colloid and Surface
Science Symposium, American Chemical Society, Atlanta, GA, June 1986.

252

ated [2 - 61. The wear process for these materials is fairly complex. The
interaction of the matrix and fiber materials, and in some cases the coupling
agent as well, complicates the fracture process which results in the formation
of wear particles. It has been reported [7 - 91 that the coefficient of friction
and the wear rate of reinforced polymers depend on the fiber orientation,
with superior wear resistance when the axis of the fibers is normal to the
plane of sliding. This is presumably so because the fibers in this orientation
are in the best position to support load and resist detachment from the
matrix. The magnitude of the effect of orientation on wear decreases as the
fiber content increases. Tsukizoe and Ohmae ]7] accounted for the good wear
resistance of fiber-reinforced plastics in terms of the self-lubricating ability,
high modulus of elasticity and high interlaminar shear strength of the composite material. They proposed a model suggesting that wear proceeded by
the wear-thinning of fiber reinforcements, the subsequent breakdown of
fibers and by the peeling action of the fibers from the matrix. According to
Tanaka [lo], a fiber-rich transfer film is formed during the sliding of fiberfilled polymers and it is this film which plays a vital role in reducing wear.
Sung and Suh [9] contradicted Tanakas explanation, saying that this did
not account for the difference in wear rates in the longitudinal and transverse sliding directions. They instead relied on their delamination theory
to model the sequence of events during wear. Cleric0 and Patierno [ 111 postulated that subsurface deformation led to crack nucleation at the matrix-m
fiber interface. Any crack would be propagated parallel to the surface at a
depth dependent on the friction coefficient, leading finally to surface shearing and the formation of a wear sheet. In his studies on hybrid carbonglassfiber-epoxy composites, Hawthorne [12] could not find any evidence of
subsurface plastic deformation or cracking which could lead to delamination
failure. Wear was instead influenced by the relative abrasiveness, fatigue
resistance, transfer film and relative load-bearing ability of the two constituent phases. Working with short fibers of glass, carbon and hybrid materials,
Voss and Friedrich [ 131 observed that the addition of fibers improved the
wear resistance of both polyamide and polyethersulfone and the improvement was much more significant in polyethersulfone which itself wore
orders of magnitude faster than polyamide. The minimum wear rate occurred with a fiber volume proportion of 15% - 20% which seemed to depend
upon the pressure-velocity
product. In a follow-up work by the same
authors [ 141, similar behavior has been reported for short-fiber-reinforced
PEEK as well. Hanmin et al. [ 151 studied the friction and wear behavior of
poly(phenylene sulphide) reinforced with carbon fibers and noted a similar
dependence of wear rate on fiber content, with the exception that the wear
rate decreased again with fiber proportions in excess of 50% when higher
loads were used. This decrease was attributed to the steel counterface polishing action at high fiber proportions and loads, accompanied by a temperature rise leading to the formation of a dense film of Fe0 which was hard
and adhesion proof. They also found that the coefficient of friction was at
a minimum for a fiber content of 20 - 30 wt.%. Lhymn and Light [16] stu-

253

died the effect of sliding velocity on the wear rate of PBT reinforced with
short glass and carbon fibers and ~lyethylene terephth~a~ reinforced with
glass fibers. Their results indicated that the curve of wear rate us. velocity
could be divided into three regions. For low velocities the specific wear rate
is inversely proportional to velocity. The plateau region in the medium speed
range is due to the lubricating action of molten polymer at the surface. The
third region in which the wear rate rises with velocity corresponds to a severe
rise in tem~rat~e at the interface.
Arkles et ad. [17] studied the wear behavior of fluoropolymers reinforced with randomly dispersed glass and carbon fibers. They found that the
wear rate decreased as the fiber content increased up to a limiting value.
Tanaka [lo] noted that carbon fibers were more effective than glass fibers
in increasing the wear resistance of polyacetal. The improvement in performance brought about by carbon fibers has been attribute to the transfer of a
smoother film to the counterface and an increase in polymer thermal conductivity and resistance to heat distortion [ 181. Nevertheless, Briscoe and
Steward [19] and Arkles et al. [17] reported that glass fibers were more
effective in reducing wear. This was so because glass fibers were harder and
less friable than carbon fibers.
As indicated by Lancaster 120 J, reinforced compositions based on
polyester resins incorporating fibers of cotton, cellulose and asbestos have
been widely used over the years as bearing materials. Eleiche and Amin [21]
studied the friction and wear behavior of polyester reinforced with unidirectional continuous cotton fibers as a function of the sliding speed, fiber
volume-fraction and fiber orientation within the matrix. These natural
fibers have now been replaced with glass, graphite and aramid fibers. The
present work is, therefore, related to tribological studies on polyester reinforced with discontinuous glass fibers. Short fibers were used because
the composite material in this case may be fabricated by inexpensive commercial processes such as extrusion and injection molding. The scope of the
work involved determining the optimum molding conditions, the investigation of the effect of fiber-glass proportion and sliding speed on friction, wear
and temperature rise, the relationship between wear rate and wear particle
size, and the wear mechanisms.

2. Experimental details
A commercial thermosetting polyester, Resinal no. WOW2 from the
Industrial Arts Supply Co., containing styrene as cross-linking agent and
cobalt as promoter, was used in this study. The catalyst for this resin contamed 60% methyl ethyl ketone and cyclohexanone peroxides in dimethyl
phthalate. The polyester was reinforced with chopped fiber-glass strands
17 pm in diameter and 6 mm long. The coupling agent used was Dow
Corning Z-6030 silane. The glass fibers were immersed in an aqueous solution of 0.2 wt.% of the coupling agent and dried in an oven at 120 C for 2 h.

254

The reinforced samples were prepared both with and without the coupling
agent.
The fiber-glass was mixed with polyester resin containing catalyst and
cured in a mold at room temperature (about 23 C) overnight. The fiberglass-reinforced polyester was molded in the form of disks, 12 mm thick and
140 mm in diameter, and the specimens for flexure and wear tests were
machined out of it. The specimens for flexure were 6.4 mm thick, 12.7 mm
wide and 127 mm long. Friction and wear tests were performed using cylindrical specimens 6.4 mm in diameter and 15 mm long.
The flexure tests were conducted according to the ASTM Standard
D790 using a cross-head speed of 2.8 mm mini. The friction and wear
experiments were performed in a pin-on-disk machine with the circular end
of the polymer composite pin riding against the periphery of a steel disk
(R, 55), 6.9 mm thick and 92 mm in diameter. The polymer specimen was
secured to a cylindrical loading arm which had two strain gauges mounted
on its surface on opposite sides to provide a measure of friction force. The
tests were conducted under ambient conditions at sliding speeds of 1.0, 1.5,
2.0 and 2.5 m s-l, and a normal load of 9.8 N was applied over the pin.
Before starting the test, the pin was abraded against a disk of the same
diameter as was to be used in later experiments so as to make sure that the
curved surface of the pin was in contact with the disk periphery. In addition,
the sliding surface of the steel disk in the wear machine was polished with
600 grade emery paper and cleaned with acetone. This provided a base surface roughness of 0.09 - 0.11 pm (AA) for the steel disk. The wear data were
obtained by weighing the polymer composite pin in a precision balance
every half-hour during the first hour and every hour thereafter up to nine
hours. The friction force was recorded continuously using a strip chart
recorder.
The temperature rise during sliding was monitored by focusing a
Raytek SL 280 SF Infrared Thermal System with close focusing arrangement
at about 2 - 3 mm below the disk sliding surface. In addition to this, infrared
spectra were obtained from a Perkin-Elmer Fourier Transform Infrared
Spectrometer 1800 using a photoacoustic cell accessory (MTEC --. Model
100). For this purpose, a section 3 mm thick was cut from the worn side
of the pin and inserted directly into the photoacoustic cell. The spectra were
normalized with the CH, band at 2920 cm- as an internal standard.

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Mechanical properties
Initially, the optimum catalyst proportion which would provide the
greatest strength was investigated. This was done by molding pure polyester
specimens with varying catalyst proportions from 1.0% to 1.35% by weight
in increments of 0.1%. Higher proportions of the catalyst were not used
because catalyst added to the impurity content of the material. The hard-

255

1.00

1.10

1.20

1.30

1.40

PROPORTION OF CATALYST, UT%

Fig. 1. Variation of mechanical properties of polyester with varying catalyst proportion.

ness, flexure strength and flexure modulus data with varying catalyst proportions are plotted in Fig. 1. Whereas the flexure modulus keeps increasing
with increasing catalyst proportion, the flexure strength and hardness show
the highest values for 1.23% catalyst. So all the other specimens were prepared with this catalyst proportion of 1.23%.
Next, the effect of coupling agent on the mechanical properties of reinforced polyester was investigated. Here the specimens for hardness and
flexure strength were prepared in five weight proportions of fiber-glass both
with and without the coupling agent. The hardness and flexure data corresponding to these conditions are plotted in Fig. 2. Addition of the coupling
agent results in improved flexure strength and flexure modulus for any
proportion of fiber-glass, as would be expected because of better polyesterglass interface bonding in the presence of a coupling agent. Whereas the
hardness and flexure modulus keep increasing with increasing fiber-glass
proportion, this is not so with the flexure strength because when the proportion of fiber-glass is small, the result is a lower flexure strength than
that of the unreinforced polyester. The reason for this lack of strength
is an earlier failure caused by the separation between the polyester and fiberglass which is prompted by flexure when deformation becomes considerable.
When the fiber-glass proportion exceeds 40 wt.%, in the presence of the
coupling agent, the flexure strength of the composite exceeds that of the
matrix material because the strengthening from the presence of the stronger
fiber material exceeds the weakening effect of debonding.
On the basis of the above results, it would ordinarily have been expected that the coupling agent would help in improving the wear resistance.

256

PROPORTION OF FIBERGLAS,

Wl'

Fig. 2. Effect of coupling agent on the mechanical properties of fiber-glass-reinforced

polyester.

0.4 f
F
LJ 0.3
4c
pl
4
s

0.2-

O.l0

10

20

30

40

PROPORTION OF FIBERGLASS, WT"

Fig. 3. Effect of coupling agent on the wear rate and coefficient of friction for polyester
filled with fiberglass: sliding speed, 2.5 m s-l; normal load, 9.8 N.

This is not necessarily the case as may be seen from Fig. 3. This figure shows
the variation of steady state wear rate with varying fiber-glass proportion for
a sliding speed of 2.5 m s-l, both with and without the coupling agent. Considering the scatter in data, one would conclude that the coupling agent affects neither friction nor wear rate in any significant manner. This would

257

tend to imply that the bonding between the constituents of the multiphase
structures should not affect the wear rate. This point will be elaborated later.
In view of these observations, the reinforced polyester specimens used in
later work were made without the coupling agent.
3.2. Friction and wear results
The variation of the coefficient of friction with sliding time for a sliding
speed of 2.0 m s-l is shown in Fig. 4. Whereas the cyclic ~uctuatious in the
coefficient of friction were large, with +25% spread about the mean, only
the mean values are plotted here. It is noted that the coefficient of friction
stabilizes after about 2 h of sliding. During this transient period, a number of
phenomena occur, such as changes in counterface surface topography and
polymer rubbing surface, the development of polymer transfer film on the
steel disk surface, and a rise in interface temperature owing to the dissipation
of energy in rubbing. When the fiber content is increased from 10 to 50
wt.%, the steady state coefficient of friction increases from 0.35 to 0.67.
The friction coefficient is at its lowest for 10 wt.% fiber, because it also increases when the proportion of fiber decreases below this, as shown in Fig. 5.
This behavior is similar to that reported by Hanmin et al. [151. Since the
variation of friction with varying fiber-glass proportion is identical to that of
flexural strength (Figs. 2 and 5), the friction of the composite material seems
to be governed by its shear strength which influences the rupture of adhesive
bonds at the interface. The likelihood of fiber-glass disrupting the transfer
film, as exhibited during the test by large cyclic fluctuations in friction
force, could also account for increased friction with the higher proportions
of fiber-glass. Little can be deduced from the variation in the coefficient of
friction with sliding velocity because of the overlapping of the data points
for different velocities (Fig. 5).
The variation of wear with sliding time for a sliding speed of 2 m s-l
and a load of 9.8 N is shown in Fig. 6 for varying fiber-glass weight percentages. As with the coefficient of friction, the wear rate also reaches a steady
state in 2 h of sliding which is therefore assumed to be the time needed for
the build-up of transfer film on the mating steel surface, and for the tem-

SLIDING TINE, h

Fig. 4. Variation
tions (by weight)

of coefficient
in polyester:

of friction with sliding time for varying fiberglass

sliding speed, 2 m s-l; load, 9.8 N.

propor-

258

PROPORTION OF FIBERGLASS

5. Variation of coefficient of friction with fiber-glass proportion

ester for varying sliding speeds.
Fig.

(by weight) in poly-

SLIDING TIME, h

Fig. 6. Variation of wear with sliding time for varying fiber-glass proportions
in polyester: sliding speed, 2 m s-; load, 9.8 N.

(by weight)

0.5

0.4
f
E"
-0.3
!z
20.2
Y
0.1

0.0
0

10

20

30

40

50

PROPORTION OF FIBERGLASS, WT%

Fig. 7. Variation of wear rate with fiber-glass proportion

varying sliding speeds.

(by weight) in polyester

for

perature to rise to an equilibrium state along with other effects. The steady
state wear rates were determined by fitting straight lines, using the method
of least squares, to the steady state wear data. The slopes of these lines, in
Fig. 6, provide steady state wear rates which are plotted in Fig. 7 as a function of fiber-glass proportion. The wear rate of unreinforced polyester had

259

an excessively high value of 1.7 mg h- at a sliding speed of 2.0 m s-l. With

the addition of a mere 5 wt.% of fiber-glass to the polyester, the wear rate
was reduced to 0.23 mg h -l. This result is similar to that observed by Voss
and Friedrich
[ 131 for polyethersulfone
reinforced
with glass fibers. The
wear rate increases with increasing fiber-glass content with the values in
excess of lo%, for all sliding speeds, and the lowest wear rate is found for
about 10% fiber-glass. Such a minimum in wear rate with fiber proportion
has been reported for other composites as well [5,6,13,14].
The variation of
wear rate with fiber-glass proportion
is similar to that of the coefficient
of
friction (Fig. 5) discussed earlier. For fiber proportions
higher than the
optimum for minimum wear rate, the wear rate increases with increasing
sliding velocity as has been reported by others [ 14, 161.
3.3. Temperature rise and oxidation
The variation in the temperature
rise, which was measured 2 - 3 mm
below the contact surface during sliding, as a function of the sliding speed
and fiber proportion,
is shown in Fig. 8. It is noted that for fiber-glass proportions of 10% - 50%, the disk temperature
rises both when the fiber proportion is increased, for any sliding speed, and when the sliding speed is
increased, for any fiber proportion.
The first part of this statement is supported by the variation of the coefficient of friction with fiber-glass proportion shown in Fig. 5. The increased temperature
rise with increasing sliding
speed here is mainly due to the reduced cooling time per revolution of the
disk because the variation in the coefficient of friction with sliding speed was
fairly small (Fig. 5). The data on temperature
rise presented in Fig. 8 indicate only the trend in variation. The actual temperatures
closer to or at the
interface are considerably higher as revealed by the different measurements
by Bark [22]. Jian et al. [23] successfully studied the photo-oxidation
of

60 0"

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

SLIDING SPEED, m/s

Fig. 8. Variation of disk temperature

tions.

with sliding speed for varying fiber-glass propor-

260

unsaturated
cross-linked polyester using infrared spectra. They found that
the spectra showed distinctive changes following ~hoto~oxidat~on,
specifically the broadening of a peak at 3200 - 3500 cm- attributed
to the formation of a hydroxy/hydroperoxide
group. The possibility of oxidation during
the wear process was studied in view of the above result. The infrared spectra
of specimens with varying fiber-glass proportions
corresponding
to the two
conditions - before sliding and after 6 hours of sliding - were obtained and
are shown in Fig. 9. There is a marked broadening seen in the CW stretching
mode peak at 3200 - 3500 cm mlcaused by the wear process. As mentioned
earlier, this is because CH has been changed to COW or COOH, whicth indicates that the considerable
temperature
rise on the mating surfaces has
caused some oxidation of polyester. It is also noted that the peak broadening
in wear specimens increases with increasing fiber proportion
in a way which

2692

(a)

1961.5

(bj

Fig. 9. Infrared spectra of fiber-glass-reinforced polyester (opd = 0.25) : percentages reiate

to fiber-glass content; sliding speed, 2 m s-l. (a) Before sliding and (b) after sliding for
6 h.

261

parallels the temperature

rise variation presented in Fig. 8. The information
presented here related to the temperature rise and oxidation will be used
later in explaining the wear behavior.
3.4. Wear particle size
The size of polymer wear particles generated in sliding was measured
with an optical microscope for three different fiber-glass proportions.
The
surface of a particle was approximated
as an ellipse and the area was estimated from the measurements of major and minor axes. A total of 50 particles
were used in each case in plotting the histograms shown in Fig. 10. It is
noted that about 75% of the wear particles rubbed off the 10% fiber composite had surface areas less than 1 X 10m5 cm2 and 20% were in the range
(1 - 10) X lop5 cm2. The number of particles with areas less than 1 X lo-
cm2 decreased to 62% for 30% fiber composite and to 50% for 50% fiber
composite. It was not possible to make such measurements on 5% fiber composite because the material was worn in the form of filaments (Fig. 11, see
Section 3.5). This observation,
related to the generation
of larger sized
polymer wear particles with higher proportions
of fiber, may be looked at
in the context of our temperature
rise data presented in Figs. 8 and 9. As
the temperature
increases in discrete contact
zones, localized softening
occurs, thereby increasing the area of asperity junctions
which are later
sheared giving rise to wear particles.
3.5. Scanning electron microscopy studies
The wear mechanisms were investigated
scopy (SEM) of the worn surfaces of polymer
shows that the filaments of polyester material
a fiber-glass proportion
of 5% is too small to
polymeric
material during sliding. When the

by scanning electron microcomposite pins. Figure 11

have been torn apart because
provide real support to the
proportion
of fiber-glass is
increased from 5% to 10%. the filaments disappear and wear occurs through

60
*
w
Y
240
4
G
20

0 I
0
AREA OF PARTICLE x 10' cm'
(a)

AREA OF PARTICLE x lo5 cmi

(b)

AREA OF PARTICLE x lo5 cm2

cc)

Fig. 10. Histograms showing wear particle distributions for polyester, reinforced with (a)
10%; (b) 30% and (c) 50% fiber-glass; sliding velocity, 2 m s-l; load, 9.8 N.

262

Fig. 11. Worn surface

s-r; load, 9.8 N.
Fig. 12. Worn surface
2 m s-l; load, 9.8 N.

of polyester

of polyester

pin reinforced

pin reinforced

with 5% fiber-glass:

with

sliding velocity,

10% fiber-glass:

2 m

sliding velocity,

the generation of wear particles (Fig. 12). The fibers are aligned at an angle
to the plane of sliding. In some locations, polyester has not been able to fill
the space between the fibers thereby producing a void. One such void is
shown at a higher magnification
in Fig. 13. This also shows the degradation
of intervening polyester material because of oxidation and the development
of cracks following deformation.
The features on the worn surfaces of 30%
and 50% fiber composites
are similar, as shown in Figs. 14 and 15. The
surface has been severely deformed
and is covered with a large number of

Fig. 13. Worn surface

2 m s-l; load, 9.8 N.

of polyester

pin reinforced

with

10% fiber-glass:

sliding velocity,

Fig. 14. Worn surface

2 m SC; load, 9.8 N.

of polyester

pin reinforced

with

30% fiber-glass:

sliding velocity,

263

Fig. 15. Worn surface of polyester pin reinforced with 50% fiber-gims: sliding velocity,
2 m s-l; load, 9.8 N.
Fig. 16. Worn surface of polyester pin reinforced with 50% fiber-glass: sliding velocity,
2 m s-; load, 9.6 N.

wear particles. The oval shape of the fiber ends clearly indicates that they
were involved in a wearing process. This is better seen in Fig. 16 which
was obtained by tilting the specimen stage so as to be able to look along
the axis of the fibers. Like this, the fiber ends appear to be circular in
shape. The angle of tilt needed was 32 which means that the fibers were
aligned at an angle of 32 to the perpendicular direction. The alignment
of the fibers in the vicinity of the surface seems to be influenced by the
resultant action of the normal load and frictional force because tan 32
equals 0.62 which is approximately the coefficient of friction for 50%
fiber composite.
3.6. Discussion
On the basis of the above obse~ations, it is possible to explain the wear
behavior presented earlier in Fig. 7. Voss and Friedrich [13, 141 have reported similar variation of wear rate with fiber proportion for other polymer
composites and developed a semiquantitative rule-of-mixtures equation.
They consider the total wear to comprise the following four components:
wear of matrix, wear from fiber sliding, wear from fiber cracking and finally
the wear by fiber/matrix separation at the interface. It is impossible to measure these components individually in any sliding situation. We will thus
examine the variation in wear rate (Fig. 7) in terms of our observations
related to the variation in coefficient of friction, temperature rise and
wear particle size, and with reference to our electron microscopy studies.
We account for the high wear rate (1.7 mg h- at a speed of 2.0 m s-i) of
unreinforced polyester in terms of considerable heating at the sliding interface owing to its high coefficient of friction of 0.70 - 0.75 (Fig. 5). As a
result of this, thick blobs of material were observed to have been removed
during sliding. This process was consistent with the fact that the unrein-

264

forced material was weak. The addition of 5% fiber-glass lowers the coefficient of friction and increases the stiffness of the material. Consequently,
the heating at the interface is less and the worn material is no longer in the
form of blobs. The wear rate is thus much lower. The addition of 10%
fiber-glass results in the lowest attainable value of the coefficient of friction
and the material removed during sliding is in the form of small particles. The
wear rate is at its lowest for this fiber proportion.
With smaller fiber proportions the wear can be considered
as wear of the matrix material, but with
larger proportions
the processes related to the amount of fiber and its
interaction
with the matrix material greatly affect the wear rate. These
processes involve fiber sliding, fiber pull-out, voids produced through fiber-matrix debonding,
along with those already present, sources of stress concentration
such as where crack initiation is caused by non-uniform
stress
distribution
arising from the segregation of fibers, stress at the crack tips
and the like. All of these are important factors in a dynamic material failure
situation such as that of wear, but their individual contributions
cannot be
measured. Since all of the above processes lead to failure at the micro-level,
they can all be detrimental,
as causes of wear. In addition to the above
phenomena,
it is noted that with increasing fiber-glass proportion,
the coefficient of friction increases (Fig. 5). This leads to a higher temperature
rise
as evidenced in Fig. 8 and more oxidation
as shown in Fig. 9. These processes cause more wear damage because they produce localized weakening
and degradation
and lead to the formation
of larger sized wear particles
(Fig, 10). The wear also increases with increasing sliding velocity because
then there is a greater rise in temperature
at the sliding interface.

4. Conclusions
The results obtained from this study of the mechanical properties and
of the friction and wear behavior of glass-fiber-reinforced
polyester sliding
against steel may by summarized as follows:
(1) The use of a coupling agent results in improved strength properties
but its effect on the coefficient
of friction and on the wear rate is insignificant.
(2) With an increasing proportion
of fiber-glass in polyester, the hardness and flexural modulus of the composites increase continuously
whereas
the flexural strength initially decreases and then shows a continuous
increase.
(3) The wear rate of polyester composites is much lower than that of
the unreinforced
polyester.
(4) The wear rate and the coefficient of friction are both at a minimum
with a fiber-glass proportion
of 10 wt.%, and they both increase when this
proportion
is made either lower or higher.
(5) With increasing sliding speeds, the wear rate increases but there is no
significant effect on the coefficient of friction,

265

(6) The disk temperature rises with an increase in sliding speed and also
with an increase in fiber-glass proportion. There is oxidation of polyester,
detectable by infrared spectroscopy, because of this rise in temperature.
(7) There is no direct relationship between mechanical strengthening
and wear or friction.

The authors gratefully acknowledge the help of Dr. John McClelland

of the Ames Laboratory at Iowa State University, Ames, IA, with infrared
studies.
References
1 A. J. Klein, Polymers wage war against wear, Adv. Mater. Process., 2 (3) (1986) 31 36.
2 B. Briscoe, Wear of polymers: an essay on fundamental aspects, Tribology, 14 (1981)
231- 243.
3 V. K. Jam, Invest~ation of wear mechanism of carbon fiber reinforced acetal, in K. C.
Ludema (ed.), Wear of Materials - 1983, American Society of Mechanical Engineers,
New York, 1983, pp. 583 - 590.
4 J. K. Lancaster, Composites for increased wear resistance: current achievements and
future prospects, in W. R. Loomis (ed.), New Directions in Lubrication, Materials,
Wear and Surface Interactions, Noyes, Park Ridge, NJ, 1985, p. 320.
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Wetherhold, H. M. Cadot, R. L. McCullough and R. B. Pipes (eds.), Composite Design
Guide, Vol. 4, University of Delaware Press, Newark, DE, 1984, Chap. 4.9.
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1986.
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Society of Mechanical Engineers, New York, 1977, pp. 510 - 517.
11 M. Cleric0 and V. Patierno, Sliding wear of polymeric composites, Wear, 53 (1979)
279 - 301.
12 H. M. Hawthorne, Wear in hybrid carbon/glass fibre epoxy composite materials,
in K. C. Ludema (ed.), Wear of Materials, American Society of Mechanical Engineers,
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