Abstract

In this research article, erosion wear behavior of polyoxymethylene (POM)/polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) blend
and their composites reinforced with short glass fiber (SGF), filled with ceramic fillers such as silicon carbide
and alumina (Al2O3) in micro/nano scale, along with molybdenum disulfide and perfluoropolyether in nanoscale
as solid lubricants have been investigated. Experiments were carried out on solid particle erosion test rig. The
tribological parameters considered in this study include impact velocity (30, 35, and 40 m/s), impingement angle
(30°, 45°, and 60°) and particle size of the silica (212, 425, and 600 μm) used as erodent. The erosion test reveals
that POM/PTFE blend demonstrated utmost resistance to erosion wear followed by POM/PTFE nano- and micro-
hybrid composites, while POM/PTFE reinforced with SGF demonstrated the least resistance in the study group.
The weight loss due to erosion was found to be increased with increase in impact velocity and decrease in erodent
particle size. The prepared composites demonstrated maximum weight loss due to erosion at 30° impingement
angle. Statistical analysis of erosion wear data was carried out by Taguchi design of experiment followed by
analysis of variance to establish the inter-dependence of erosion wear operating parameters in the study.