Abstract
The short fibre bundles separated from the machining waste of a printed circuit board manufacturing plant were used in preparing functionally graded composites using polysulphide modified epoxy resin. Glass fibre bundles were thouroughly mixed with epoxy, which is getting polymerised with time and centrifugal force was applied to achieve graded dispersion of glass fibre bundles. The centrifugation time was varied to obtain different gradient profiles. Optical microstructures confirmed the graded dispersion of glass fibres bundles in the epoxy matrix. Increase in distance towards the centrifugation force direction increases the glass fibre concentration. Gradient characteristics in the composite have been observed in wear and friction measurements, which were conducted using a pin-on-disc machine. Worn surfaces of samples were analysed with the help of SEM. Both sliding (adhesive) and abrasive wear rates of glass fibre reinforced epoxy gradient composites reduced with increasing centrifugation time. Reduction in wear rate in glass fibre epoxy gradient composites has been attributed to the better interface bonding between epoxy coated fibre bundles and the epoxy matrix and hardening property of glass fibre. It has been found that capability to sustain pressure limit increased from 0·59 to 0·79 MPa on centrifuging the sample upto 2 min and reached to 1·19 MPa with increasing the centrifugation time to 30 min.
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