Hardness and Dry Sliding Wear Characterization of Functionally Graded Materials Employing Centrifugal

In this work, functionally graded materials were synthesized by centrifugal technique at different volume fractions (0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2% Vf) with different rotational speed of (0, 600, 800, 1000 and 1200) r.p.m and different rotational time (0, 1, 2, 3 and 4) min. The hardness and tribological properties were characterized to study the graded and non-graded nanocomposites and the pure epoxy material. Using a pin-on-disc machine, sliding wear tests are conducted with the following parameters: rotation speed (400 rpm), normal load (30 N), filler content (0–2% Vf), and sliding distance (0.15 km). The hardness and wear parameters of graded composites were investigated and compared to those of epoxy composites with homogeneous filling. This work demonstrates that incorporating Al2O3 nanoparticles improves graded composites' hardness and sliding wear resistance. Epoxy–Al2O3 epoxy composites with a volume fraction of 2 had the lowest specific wear rate of all samples. The FGMs had superior sliding wear performance compared to homogenous composites. The maximum difference in hardness and coefficient of friction occurred at (FGM), which is loaded from the rich side of the nanoalumina at (Vf = 2%, N = 1200 r.p.m and T = 6 min), where the maximum value was 168% and 78 % as compared with neat epoxy, respectively. The wear rate of the functionally graded samples was enhanced by (87.7%) compared with neat epoxy if loaded from the alumina-rich side.