Micro/nano-wear studies on epoxy/silica nanocomposites

Published

April 18, 2013

Author(s)

Zhengzhi Wang, Ping Gu, Xiao-ping Wu, Zhong Zhang, Martin Chiang, Hui Zhang

Abstract

We proposed a new method for quantifying the micro/nano-scale wear volume (i.e., volume of wear loss) in a test to characterize the wear-resistance of nanocomposites. Effects of wear load and pass (a pattern of scan cycles), and nanoparticle content on the wear behavior of silica nanoparticle-reinforced composites (EP/SiO2) were studied accordingly. The multiple nano-scratch patterning technique was carried out for the wear test. Images of sample surface, before/after the test, obtained using in-situ scanning probe microscopy (SPM) were used to calculate the wear volume. Our results indicate that the wear mechanism transits from a plastic-deformation dominated mode to a fatigue-wear dominated mode when the wear load and pass increase above a threshold. The transition threshold increases with the nanoparticle content, and the increase corresponds to an improvement in wear resistance of nanocomposites. This transition threshold can be a different way, rather than using the conventional mechanical properties (e.g., surface hardness and stiffness), to characterize the wear resistance of materials such that the wear condition is taken into account.

Citation

Composites Science and Technology

Pub Type

Journals

Keywords

Nano composites, Wear, Mechanical properties, Scanning probe microscopy (SPM), polymers

Citation

Wang, Z. , Gu, P. , Wu, X. , Zhang, Z. , Chiang, M. and Zhang, H. (2013), Micro/nano-wear studies on epoxy/silica nanocomposites, Composites Science and Technology (Accessed January 9, 2026)