Tribological properties of epoxy matrix composites filled with particles of multicomponent titanium-based alloy

Abstract The article presents the results of a study on the effect of a dispersed filler, produced by thermal synthesis from a mixture of titanium hydride, ferrosilicomanganese, and boron carbide powders on the tribological characteristics of a polymer composite based on ED-20 epoxy diane oligomer. The filler was incorporated into the resin at concentration ranging from 5 to 40 parts of composite powder per 100 parts (by weight) of the epoxy oligomer. At a sliding speed of 0.5 m/s, the highest friction coefficient (µ) in the range of 0.55–0.6 was noted for the epoxy polymer without a filler, while an increase in the filler concentration in the epoxy polymer led to a noticeable decrease in the friction coefficient values. The lowest values of µ (0.32–0.35) were observed in composites with 5 and 10 wt.% filler. With an increase in the sliding speed up to 1 m/s at the stage of constant friction, the friction coefficient for unreinforced polymer and the composite with 5% filler reached values of 0.55–0.65 followed by a transition to catastrophic wear. For polymers with 10, 20, and 40 wt.% filler, composites with a higher content of the dispersed component were characterized by lower values of µ. The specific wear of composites decreased with the incorporation of cermet particles into the polymer and with an increased in its concentration in the polymer from 5 to 20%. However, when the filler content increases to 40%, the level of specific wear increases slightly.