Repercussion of manufacturing techniques on mechanical and wear peculiarity of zno particulate‐filled polyester composites

This article presents the comparison of mechanical and dry sliding wear peculiarity of zinc oxide (ZnO)‐filled polyester composites, fabricated by two different techniques. These two techniques are simple mechanical stirring and vertical centrifugal casting. ZnO filled polyester based homogeneous composites are fabricated by simple mechanical stirring technique whereas composites fabricated by vertical centrifugal casting technique are functionally graded materials (FGMs). Dry sliding wear tests are performed over a range of sliding velocity (1.57–3.66 m/s), normal load (10–30 N), filler content (0–20 wt%), and sliding distance (1,000–3,000 m) using a pin‐on‐disc apparatus. This study establishes that the FGMs exhibit superior mechanical properties (except tensile strength) and wear resistance as compared with homogeneous composites. Among all the fabricated composites, FGMs filled with 20 wt% ZnO filler has maximum hardness and flexural strength, i.e., 70 HRL and 39 MPa, respectively. Compressive and impact strength is maximum for 10 wt% ZnO filled FGMs with 36 MPa and 1.3 J, respectively. The tensile strength of homogeneous composites is 21.7% higher as compared with FGMs for 10 wt% of ZnO filler loading. FGM filled with 20 wt% of ZnO filler has minimum specific wear rate of 0.33 × 10 ⁻⁵ mm ³ /Nm and neat polyester has a maximum of 0.97 × 10 ⁻⁵ mm ³ /Nm. The morphology of worn surfaces is examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and discussed. POLYM. COMPOS., 39:654–667, 2018. © 2016 Society of Plastics Engineers