Friction and wear bahavior of short fiber‐reinforced poly(amide‐imide) composites

Abstract Tribological behavior of short fiber‐reinforced thermoplastic composites was investigated experimentally and theoretically. Short carbon fiber and glass fiber reinforced poly(amide‐imide) composites were tested. Titanium oxide powder‐filled composite was also tested for comparison with the fiber composites. Block‐on‐ring type wear testing was performed for 24 h at three different sliding conditions. Frictional force was measured and stored by a data acquisition system and wear was measured as weight loss after the test. Wear tracks on the specimen and the counterface were examined with an optical microscope to observe fiber damage and formation of wear film. The equivalent stress distribution around each fiber at the sliding surface was calculated by employing a finite element program. The lowest friction and wear was obtained for the carbon fiber composite, the highest friction for the glass fiber composite, and the highest wear for TiO₂‐filled one. It was observed that the glass fibers are damaged and removed from the surface more easily than the carbon fibers, and the finite element analysis also suggests easier debonding of glass fibers.