Dry Friction and Wear Behavior of Laser-Sintered Graphite/Carbon Fiber/Polyamide 12 Composite

Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRPs) are being used extensively in modern industries that require a high strength-to-weight ratio, such as aerospace, automotive, motorsport, and sports equipment. However, although reinforcement with carbon fibers improves the mechanical properties of polymers, this comes at the expense of abrasive wear resistance. Therefore, to efficiently utilize CFRPs in dry sliding contacts, solid lubricant is used as a filler. Further, to facilitate the fabrication of objects with complex geometries, selective laser sintering (SLS) can be employed. Accordingly, in the present work, graphite-filled carbon fiber-reinforced polyamide 12 (CFR-PA12) specimens were prepared using the SLS process to explore the dry sliding friction and wear characteristics of the composite. The test specimens were aligned along four different orientations in the build chamber of the SLS machine to determine the orientation-dependent tribological properties. The experiments were conducted using a pin-on-disc tribometer to measure the coefficient of friction (COF), interface temperature, friction-induced noise, and specific wear rate. In addition, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of tribo-surfaces was conducted to specify the dominant wear pattern. The results indicated that the steady-state COF, contact temperature, and wear pattern of graphite-filled CFR-PA12 are orientation-independent and that the contact temperature is likely to approach an asymptote far below the glass transition temperature of amorphous PA12 zones, thus eliminating the possibility of matrix softening. Additionally, the results showed that the Z-oriented specimen exhibits the lowest level of friction-induced noise along with the highest wear resistance. Moreover, SEM of tribo-surfaces determined that abrasive wear is the dominant wear pattern.