LAUSR

Structural and mechanical integrity, as well as friction and wear performance of a composite designed for tribological application (hereafter called as tribo-composite) depends on a precise selection and potent combination of fillers, fibers, and polymer matrix along with right processing technique. Modern day research is primarily focused on exploring the suitability and potential of new ingredients, which are better than the conventional ones, in enhancing the friction and wear performance of a tribo-composite. In-depth laboratory scale study on the tribo-performance evaluation of these ingredients is a key to explore their potential and use at an industrial level. Particles of potassium titanate (KT) is one of such ingredients which helps in reducing wear of friction materials. However, its role in influencing the wear performance of anti-friction materials is still unexplored. In the present work, the potential of KT particles (10 wt%) in two sizes (micron and a combination of micrometer and nanometer, 7 + 3 wt%) has been evaluated. In all, three tribo-composites based on two fixed ingredients viz. polyaryletherketone (PAEK) and short glass fibers (GF-30 wt%) were developed. The first composite contained 10 wt% graphite, while the other two composites contained additional 10 wt% KT particles. It was observed that KT particles acted as a solid lubricant despite not having a layer-lattice structure. Tribo-composites with nanoparticles of KT as a filler proved more effective at severe sliding conditions (PVlimit 168 MPa m s−1) compared to that filled with micron-sized particles (PVlimit 112 MPa m s−1 respectively). Based on this study, it was concluded that KT proved as a filler having the potential to enhance the tribo-performance of PAEK based composites and nano-sized particles proved more efficient compared to the micro-sized one.