Mechanical and tribological properties of electrical corrosion resistance-glass reinforced polyimide composites for high voltage applications

Abstract

In recent times, glass fiber reinforcements are extensively used in the development of polymer matrix composites to improve their performance especially when used for engineering applications. As such, the focus of the present study remains on the effects of electrical corrosion resistance (ECR) glass particles on the mechanical and tribological properties of polyimide (PI) composites fabricated by the spark plasma sintering (SPS) process. SPS is a novel powder metallurgy method in producing homogeneous composite materials in short sintering time with finer microstructure. However, the PI composites were produced at different contents of ECR-glass reinforcement particles (5, 10, 15, and 20 wt %). The microstructural characterization of the samples was conducted using scanning electron microscope (SEM). Nanoindentation tests and pin-on-disc wear tests (under dry condition) were conducted to evaluate the mechanical and tribological properties of the composites. The SEM results revealed that the reinforcement’s particles were well distributed in the PI matrix phase. Incorporation of ECR-glass particles into the PI composites improved its hardness and elastic modulus. The ECR-glass/PI matrix composite loaded with 15 wt% ECR displayed a significant reduction in coefficient of friction from 0.091 to 0.015 and wear rate from 0.81 × 10 −4 to 0.14 × 10 −4 mm 3 /Nm. In addition, the ECR/PI composites exhibited improved dielectric properties over the pure PI. Hence, corroborating the potential of this ECR-glass reinforced PI for industrial (automobile and power) applications requiring high hardness, elastic modulus, good wear resistance, and low dielectric constant.