Journal of Materials Science, Vol.34, No.1, 191-194, 1999
Fretting of glass fibre reinforced composites
Favourable specific mechanical properties of polymer matrix composites make them an attractive material for application in many engineering structures for which they offer substantial improvements over metals. The paper deals with fretting behaviour of unidirectional glass epoxy composites/metal contacts. Fretting is a plague for many industries: failures, loss of matter, loss of function can be induced by fretting. It occurs in all quasi-static contacts and appears as a complex wear phenomenon where a lot of parameters have been studied. From the interface tribology concept, the velocity accommodation mechanisms are discussed for different fibre orientations versus the contact surface of the glass fibre reinforced epoxy material. Results were analysed in two steps. From friction logs, Running Conditions Fretting Maps (RCFM) were first plotted in order to give an analysis of contact conditions and determine the associated material responses. The tribological degradations were then analysed. Differences between the different fibre orientations are mainly discussed on the basis of the stiffness of the anisotropic material and the velocity accommodation in the contact.
Keywords:WEAR