EFFECT OF PROCESS PARAMETERS ON WEAR BEHAVIOR AND WATER ABSORPTION OF UHMWPE FABRIC REINFORCED EPOXY COMPOSITES

The use of artificial fiber reinforced composites are widely used in many applications such as automobile, aircraft manufacturing because they are cost effective and offers high strength, and weight ratio compared to other composites with similar applications. In this work, epoxy was selected as a matrix material to prepare a composite specimens reinforced with UHMWPE fabric with varying layers. Composite specimens are prepared by varying the number of fabric layers and Taguchi's L9 orthogonal array method is used to study the Tribological behavior. The test specimen of composite material had been prepared using hand layup technique and the samples were tested for wear properties using the equipment DUCOM made pin on disc experimental setup. The weight was measured before and after the experiment is conducted. The effects of the Tribological operating parameters applied load, sliding velocity and sliding distance on the frictional and wear performance of UHMWPE fabric reinforced composites are demonstrated. Moreover, water absorption tests were conducted to know their effect over a period of time for both the aerial densities 200gsm and 240gsm of the fiber mats. It was observed that the wear response of the specimens is influenced by the applied load, sliding distance and the speed.