Investigation on slurry erosion of Al2O3 incorporated glass/epoxy composites

The jet erosion of fibre reinforced plastics (FRPs) has been reported in many literatures available, but very few have reported on their slurry erosion behaviour of FRPs. Furthermore, limited studies have paid attention on slurry erosion characterisation of filler incorporated FRPs. Hence, present study was focused on slurry erosion behaviour of alumina fillers incorporated glass/epoxy composites. The parameters considered were slurry concentration, contact angle and impact velocity. The experimental results reveal that increase in filler percentage increased the erosion resistance of glass/epoxy composites. The increase in slurry concentration and impact velocity has resulted in higher amount of erosion of studied composites. The material loss due to erosion increased with increase of impact angle till 45°, whereas further increase in impact angle caused reduction in wear. Erosion mechanisms were studied through SEM image of eroded samples. Worn surface analysis revealed that plastic deformation, matrix debonding with microcutting, microploughing, and pulverisation were dominant erosion mechanisms at 45° to 60° impact angle.