The sliding friction and wear properties of poly(vinylidene fluoride) composites filled with carbon fibres

Abstract

Tribological performance of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) and carbon fibre reinforced PVDF under dry sliding condition is studied. Different contents of carbon fibres were employed as reinforcement. All filled and unfilled polyimide composites were tested against the CGr15 ball and representative testing was performed. The effects of carbon fibre content on tribological properties of the composites were investigated. The worn surface morphologies of neat PVDF and its composites were examined by scanning electron microscopy and the wear mechanisms were discussed. Moreover, all filled PVDFs have superior tribological characteristics to unfilled PVDFs. The optimum wear reduction was obtained when the content of carbon fibre was 20 vol%.