Friction and wear mechanisms of a thermoplastic composite GF/PA6 subjected to different thermal histories

An experimental investigation was conducted to identify the optimum manufacturing process that would improve the tribological properties of unidirectional GF/PA6 composite material. A range of microstructural morphologies were achieved by controlling the thermal history. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used to measure the crystallinity of the GF/PA6 samples subjected to different thermal histories. Friction tests were carried out on a scratch machine with a diamond indenter. To study the mechanisms of friction and wear, SEM and confocal laser microscope techniques were used. The results indicated that a slow cooling condition led to a higher percentage of crystallinity in the PA6 matrix, higher wear resistance and higher scratch coefficient. Greater wear was observed in many cases after a fast cool. It was also found that different levels of interfacial bonding between fibre and matrix played an important role.