Thermal characterization of polyethersulfone composites filled with self lubricants

As of late, a lot of research has been performed on the thermal degradation of polymer matrix composites since this is a significant issue in the utilization of thermoplastic and thermoset polymers in various kinds of conditions that are exposed to temperature changes. These composite systems performance under various temperatures is a significant boundary to be considered on the grounds that it can, in many cases, decide the upper bound on the temperatures at which a material has reasonable properties. Relative motion between the two contact bodies always results in progressive loss of material from the less hardened surface by various modes of wear. Generally, Normal load establishing the contact, relative velocity, sliding distance and hardness of materials decide the amount of wear. In addition to these, temperature which arises due to friction at the interface of the contact surfaces significantly controls the wear. In order to consider the effect of contact temperature on the adhesive wear of polymeric composites, thermal parameters such as thermal conductivity, diffusivity and heat capacity are required. Therefore, in this work, the abovementioned thermal parameters were determined by flash method for short carbon fiber (SCF) reinforced polyethersulfone (PES) composites filled with two well known self lubricating materials, namely, potassium titanate whisker (PTW) and ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE). Thermal conductivity of SCF reinforced and PTW filled PES composites were improved whereas UHMWPE filled composites showed no significant change in their conductivity. In addition, numerical simulation was performed using the experimental results in Abaqus package. Simulated results were found aligned with experimentation results.