On the Effect of Counterface Materials on Interface Temperature and Friction Coefficient of GFRE Composite Under Dry Sliding Contact

Nowadays, there is an increase interest in polymeric composite materials for high-performance in many industrial applications. In other words, the tribo-studies on polymeric materials are growing fast to enhance the polymeric products such as bearings, seals, ring and bushes. The current work presents an attempt to study the correlation between the type of counterface material and frictional heating at the interface surfaces for different, normal loads (23N, 49N and 72N), sliding velocities (0.18, 1.3 and 5.2 m s^ˉ1) and interval time (0-720 sec). Sliding friction experiments are performed on a pin-on-ring (POR) tribometer under dry contact condition. Interface temperature and friction force were measured simultaneously during sliding of glass fiber reinforced epoxy (GFRE) composite against three different counter face materials, hardened steel (HS), cast iron (CI) and Aluminum alloy (Al). Experimental results showed that the type of counterface material greatly influences both interface temperature and friction coefficient. Higher temperature and friction coefficient were evident when sliding took place against HS surface, compared to sliding against CI and Al under same condition. When sliding took place against HS, the friction coefficient of GFRE composite was about an order of magnitude higher than sliding the GFRE composite against the other counter face materials. Based on the optical microscope graphs, the friction and induced temperature results of GFRE composite are analyzed and discussed.