Tribological Investigation of Polyamide (PA66) Composites with and without Effect of Surface Texturing

Abstract: Significant improvement in load capacity, wear resistance, friction coefficient etc. of tribological mechanical components can be obtained by forming regular micro-surface structure in the form of micro-dimples on their surfaces. In the present investigation the effect of surface texturing on tribological properties of Polyamide (PA66) composite materials considering elliptical shape texture pattern with varying orientations so as to observe the comparative friction and wear behavior of Polyamide (PA66) composites with & without surface texturing on mating surface at dry & wet lubrication by using a pin-on-disc Tribometer. The results shows that the coefficient of friction varies considerably with surface texture patterns, some texture patterns shows a higher load carrying capacity & due to that negative coefficient of friction was observed. Scanning Electron Micrographs shows that wear of some textured surfaces was reduced compared with the non textured surface at both the lubricating conditions. The circumferentially oriented pattern shows better results as compared to radially oriented pattern. Keywords: Dimples; Surface Texturing; Tribometer.