Mechanical and Tribological Behaviour of Epoxy Reinforced with Nano Al2O3 Particles

In the present work systematic study has been conducted to investigate the matrix properties by introducing nanosize Al2O3 (particle size 100 nm, 0.5–10 wt %) fillers into an epoxy resin. High shear mixing process was employed to disperse the particles into the resin. The experimental results indicated that frictional coefficient and wear rate of epoxy can be reduced at rather low concentration of nanoAl2O3. The lowest specific wear rate 0.7 x 10-4 mm3/Nm is observed for the composites with 1 wt.% which is decreased by 65% as compared to unfilled epoxy. The reinforcement of Al2O3 particles leads to improved mechanical properties of the epoxy composites. The results have been supplemented with scanning electron micrographs to help understand the possible wear mechanisms.