This paper investigates the effect of acid and silane treatment of Carbon Nanotubes (CNT) on wear properties of epoxy polymer composite. The wear test done was based on ASTM D3389 standard using the Abrasive Wear Tester (TR 600). Characterisation analysis was also done using Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) in order to study the dispersion of the CNT inside the epoxy matrix. When untreated CNT was added to the epoxy with amounts of 0.5, 0.75 and 1.0 wt%, the wear rates did not improve except for 0.5 wt% CNT filled epoxy. This was due to the lack of dispersion which causes larger chunks of material being dug out, thus contributing to a higher mass loss and wear rate. When treated with acid and silane, 0.75 wt% and 1.0 wt% CNT filled epoxy composites showed improvement. The TEM images of 0.5 wt%, 0.75 wt% and 1.0 wt% PCNT filled epoxy supported the claim of the lack of dispersion of PCNT inside the epoxy.
In this paper, the wear properties of nano-filled Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) composite are
studied based on the effects of the architecture of the glass fibre and test environment. Wear tests were
done under two different conditions; dry environment test and wet environment test. The dry and wet
environment tests were conducted using the abrasion resistance tester (TR600) and slurry erosion tester,
respectively; the slurry mixture of sand and water were used in the wet environment test. Two types of
glass fibres architecture were understudied; unidirectional and woven. It was found that 3 wt.% filler
content is the optimum amount to be used for the GFRP composite. Unidirectional nano-filled GFRP
composites exhibited the lowest wear rates due to their closely aligned glass fibre arrangement. The
unidirectional fibre alignment provided less empty spots for the interlocking process to take place, thus
reducing the ploughing action of wearing. However, when tested in the wet environment, effects of
other testing parameters such as the architecture of fibre and filler contents became less significant. The
composites, which were tested in wet environment, showed the lowest wear rates compared to the ones
tested in the dry environment. This is due to the presence of water that helps to wash away the pulverised
glass fibre, thus reducing the friction and the three-body wear effect