Tribological performance of functional coated fiber reinforced additively manufactured polymer composite

Abstract Additive manufacturing has witnessed an upward trend in utilization across diverse industries in recent years. This study examines the tribological properties of polymer composites produced using additive manufacturing. The polymer composites were produced using the fusion deposition modeling process. Subsequently, they undergo thermal spray coating and spin coating processes that deposit hafnium carbide particles onto their surface. The wear test studies were conducted at three distinct temperature levels in accordance with the ASTM standard procedure. The findings demonstrated that the application of a ceramic particle coating led to a substantial decrease in the specific wear rates. Additionally, there were observed differences in the wear rates depending on the specific methods used for applying the coating. The application of thermal coating shown high efficacy in reducing wear rates and safeguarding the underlying materials against material loss. The uncoated PLA-CF material showed a slightly significant amount of material degradation as the test chamber temperature increased, in comparison to the coated specimens. The average specific wear rate of the thermally coated PLA-CF specimen at a temperature of 70˚C is 0.000156 kg/Nm.