Wear Resistance and Tensile Properties of Filler-added Polyamide 6 Fibers

The abrasive wear rate, the coefficient of friction, and the tensile properties have been investigated on the polyamide 6 (PA6) fibers added with titanium carbide particles (TCP's), aluminum borate whiskers (ABW's) and vapor-grown carbon fibers (VGCF's). The wear rate of the fibers has been determined using a method previously proposed by the present authors. All the fillers used in this study effectively increased the wear resistance of the PA6 fiber. The effect of the fillers to increase the wear resistance of the fiber was analyzed in relation to the changes in the microhardness, the resistance against sliding and the fracture toughness against abrasive wear. The rolling effect of the fillers having a small aspect ratio was recognized from the decrease in the resistance against sliding.