Erosive wear behavior of various polyamides

A series of polyamides (PAs), namely, PA 6, PA 66, PA 66/610, PA 11, PA 12 and aromatic PA (brittle, hard and amorphous) was selected for investigating the effect of chemical structure and hence, mechanical properties on erosive wear behavior by impinging silica sand particles of 90–180 μm size at various angles and dozes. The results indicated that five polyamides including brittle PA showed maximum in wear versus impact angle relation at 30° confirming their ductile failure behavior. For two PAs, however, wear was maximum at 15°. Good correlation was observed in erosion rate and brittleness index of polyamides at incidence angles of 90 and 60°. Worn surface analysis was done using scanning electron microscopy to investigate wear mechanisms.