THE INFLUENCE OF ADDING NANO-TUNGSTEN CARBIDE ON THE WEAR RATE AND COEFFICIENT OF FRICTION FOR CHOPPED FIBERS COMPOSITE

Although epoxy compounds are often used in engineering and industrial environments, their poor resistance to wear in high-friction environments requires changes to their mechanical and surface properties. To improve wear properties, tungsten carbide nanoparticles WC at concentrations (1%, 1.5%, and 2%) were used to reinforce hybrid epoxy composites with chopped glass fibers (8%) and chopped sisal fibers (4%). A pin-on-disc devise was used to perform the dry wear test according to ASTM G99 guidelines. The best result was obtained with the addition of 1.5% WC compared to pure epoxy, with a 46.4% improvement in wear rate for the glass fiber-reinforced specimen with a friction coefficient of 0.20 and a 33.9% increase for the sisal fiber-reinforced specimen with a friction coefficient of 0.29