Wear 260 (2006) 30–39

Tribological behaviour of epoxy based composites for rapid tooling

Pedro V. Vasconcelos a , F. Jorge Lino b, ∗ , António M. Baptista b , Rui J.L. Neto c
a Departamento de Ciências da Engenharia, ESTG/IPVC, Viana do Castelo, Portugal
b Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto, DEMEGI, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal
c INEGI—Instituto de Engenharia Mecânica e Gestão Industrial, Porto, Portugal

Received 2 March 2004; received in revised form 1 November 2004; accepted 23 December 2004
Available online 19 February 2005

Abstract

Epoxy resin composites are frequently applied in moulds manufactured with rapid tooling technologies that are used for wax and polymer
materials injection. With the propose of enlarging the application field of the polymer matrix systems, it is fundamental to select adequate
dispersed phases and analyse their influence on the composite properties in order to reinforce the polymer matrix and tailor the properties
according to the tools specifications.
Thermal conductivity and wear resistance are critical parameters for a good service performance and durability of the mould. Metallic
fillers allow significant improvement in the resin thermal conductivity. In this work, it was possible to show that small amounts of milled
fibres enhance the wear resistance, with little changes in the processability and in the allowed aluminium concentration in the resin matrix.
A tribological study of these materials was performed involving the neat resin, the aluminium filled resin and tri-phase composites composed
by epoxy, aluminium particles and milled glass or carbon fibres. The study was focused on the role of the particles and fibres in the friction
and wear at room temperature and at a typical plastic injection temperature of 160 ◦ C.
© 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Epoxy resins; Composites; Wear; Milled fibres; Rapid tooling

1. Introduction the filling injection stage of abrasive thermoplastic polymers,

Liquid epoxy resins exhibit a good mixture and processing
ability with reinforcement materials in granular or fibre form.
The result of these mixtures is composite materials with in-
termediate properties depending, however, on the combined
action of the components.
In rapid prototyping (RP) and rapid tooling (RT) applica-
tions, metallic filled resins are frequently employed in mould
manufacturing for production of small series of plastic parts
[1–4].
The injection of fibre reinforced thermoplastic polymers
is in a process of great expansion. Moulds manufactured with
metallic filled polymers [5–7] exhibit limited durability, due
to the extensive wear to which they are submitted during
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +351 225081704/42; fax: +351 225081445.
E-mail address: falves@fe.up.pt (F.J. Lino).
making their use in this application not very attractive.
In this context, a detailed study was conducted to analyse
the tribological behaviour of these composites, aiming to un-
derstand the effect of the particle and fibre addition on the
epoxy matrix and, consequently, tailor the moulds properties
to increase the total number of parts that can be injected.
2. Materials and experimental work
Epoxy resin based composites containing aluminium and
milled carbon or glass fibres, with the compositions shown
in Table 1, were used. The epoxy resin (E) was a commer-
cial tetraepoxide grade based in an aromatic glycidyl amine,
Araldite LY5210 (Vantico, UK) with a high molecular weight
[8–10]. The epoxy resin/curing agent, aluminium powder
(A–98.7% Al) and fibres (C: carbon fibres; G: glass fibres)
were manually mixed and cured at room temperature for 48 h

0043-1648/$ – see front matter © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.wear.2004.12.030
 P.V. Vasconcelos et al. / Wear 260 (2006) 30–39 31

Table 1
Compositions of the tested materials
Designation E EA = E + A EAC = E + A + C EAG = E + A + G
Composition (% in volume) E—100 E—59 E—57.5 E—57.5
A—41 A—38.5 A—38.5
C—4 G—4
E: epoxy; A: aluminium; C: carbon fibres and G: glass fibres.

Fig. 1. Polished surfaces of epoxy resins filled (grey colour) with; (a) aluminium (white particles) and milled glass fibre (dark filaments) – EAG composite;
and (b) aluminium (white particles) and milled carbon fibres (white filaments)—EAC composite.

Table 2
Technical characteristics of the aluminium particles and milled fibres
Dispersed phase Manufacturer Dimensions Sizing
Aluminium powder PD 200 Hexcel (France) 99% < 200 ␮m –
Milled E-glass PPG (USA) 215/11 ␮m (l/d)a Polyvinyl acetate with silane
Milled carbon Toray (Japan) 63/7 ␮m (l/d)a 1 wt% epoxy
a l/d: fibre length/diameter.

and at 40 ◦ C for 14 h, and post-cured at 200 ◦ C for 1.5 h. Fig. 1
shows micrographs of the polished surfaces of the tri-phase
composites after this heat treatment cycle. Aluminium is seen
as light grey round particles and glass and carbon fibres as
elongated filaments in a grey epoxy matrix.
The technical and mechanical characteristics of the
raw materials and respective composites are presented in
Tables 2 and 3 [11,12].
Considering that it is difficult to simulate the erosive wear
mechanisms present in an injection mould, two accessible
tests were employed, which although not reproducing exactly
the mould operation conditions, allow the assessment of the
wear resistance and the integrity of these composites, both
at room temperature and at a typical thermoplastics injection
temperature of 160 ◦ C [13]. A comparative study, between
the results obtained with these conventional tests and the
ones using an industrial injection-moulding machine, will
be the subject of other publication.
For an extensive wear characterization, two wear tests
were performed with different typologies and experimental
conditions (see Fig. 2):

Table 3
Barcol hardness and elastic modulus of the raw materials and respective
composites [11,12]
Materials Hardness Elastic modulus (GPa)
E 40 (Barcol) 2.7
A 58 (Barcol) 69
C 6 (Mohs) [12] 232
G 6.5 (Mohs) [12] 72.5
EA 53 (Barcol) 7
EAC 53 (Barcol) 7.3
EAG 53 (Barcol) 7.3
Fig. 2. Schematic diagram of the wear tests that were employed: (a) metal-
E: epoxy; A: aluminium; C: carbon fibres and G: glass fibres. lographic polishing microabrasion and (b) reciprocating tribometer.
32 P.V. Vasconcelos et al. / Wear 260 (2006) 30–39
- reciprocating tribometer (reciprocating wear type) [14] and
- metallographic polishing microabrasion (abrasive wear
type) [15,16].
2.1. Reciprocating wear
In the reciprocating test, a flat surface of the sample
is abraded against a steel sphere, involving sliding fric-
tion and wear at high pressure, giving information of the
material integrity level. This tribological configuration de-
creases the tendency for the topography modification effect
caused by polymer transfer, keeping the contact nature of the
steel–polymer interface almost unchanged during the whole
test.
To determine the influence of the temperature on the fric-
tion and wear behaviour (dry conditions), a reciprocating tri-
bometer, Cameron Plint TE67 (Budenberg, UK) was used.
The following test conditions were established:
pin—polished steel sphere (DIN-105Cr6) with 9.5 mm di-
ameter;
specimen—rectangular plate (dimensions: 60 mm × 40 mm
× 5 mm);
force = 25.4 N (pressure ≈ 25 MPa);
amplitude motion = 10 mm;
maximum linear velocity = 0.13 m/s;
sliding distance = 82 m.
Three samples were used for each material and tempera-
ture (room temperature and 160 ◦ C). Due to the presence of
defects, such as scratches and cavities that can significantly
influence the test results, the sample surfaces were polished
with a P1200 SiC paper.
The volume of the material removed during the wear test
was determined by contact profilometry (Hommel Werke LV-
50, Hommel Werke-Thyssen, Germany). This volume was
computed by multiplying the medium area of three wear track
sections by the respective track length.
For comparison analysis, the parameters of the test condi-
tions of the two wear tests are indicated in Table 4.
The worn surfaces of the specimens were examined in a
scanning electron microscope (Jeol JSM-6301F, USA) and
the chemical X-rays spectra (SEM/EDS) obtained.
The reciprocating test allowed the determination of
the wear coefficient evolution relatively to the sliding
distance and the effect of the temperature on the tribological
behaviour of the different composite materials, considering
the neat resin as a reference. It was possible to apply
a significantly higher pressure in dry conditions, which
also allowed the material integrity evaluation under severe
Table 4
Parameters employed in the two wear tests: metallographic polishing microabrasion and reciprocating tribometer
Wear test Counterface material
Metallographic polishing microabrasion P320 SiC paper
Reciprocating tribometer Steel sphere d = 9.5 mm
a Mean values.
conditions. This severe wear is due to the existence of a
mixed abrasive/adhesive contact condition [17,18].
2.2. Abrasive wear
This test was employed to determine the materials spe-
cific wear rate at room temperature and was only used to
complement the information given by the reciprocating test.
In each wear cycle of the metallographic polishing mi-
croabrasion test, three rectangular prismatic samples were
simultaneously abraded against a SiC paper to assess the
abrasive wear resistance. The samples were cut in rectangu-
lar prisms of 30 mm length with a square section of 10 mm.
Prior to the test, the specimens were polished with a P1200
SiC paper and weighed before being mounted into the spec-
imen holder. The three specimens were separated from each
other in the holder by 120◦ . The wear apparatus was a semi-
automatic grinding–polishing machine (Planopol-3, Struers,
Denmark), where a constant load of 60 N was applied for
2 min. The mean velocity of the specimens, mounted into the
sample holder, relatively to the abrasive disk (P320 SiC pa-
per), was 202.5 m/min. Water was used as lubricant with a
constant 250 ml/min delivering rate. The sample holder and
the disk rotate off-axis, which allows the samples to sweep
a wide working area, keeping the wear rate practically un-
changed during the test [14].
The mass loss was measured weighing the specimen be-
fore and after the test and the specific wear rate, Ws , was
calculated by [19]:
m
Ws = , (1)
lρF
where m is the mass loss, l the sliding distance, ρ the density
of the specimen and F is the normal load.
Six wear cycles were performed with each material.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Reciprocating wear
3.1.1. Friction behaviour
Initially, at room temperature (see Fig. 3a), the neat epoxy
resin exhibits a constant friction coefficient, µ, of about 0.16.
Nevertheless, after about 30 m of sliding distance, µ begins
to increase at a slow rate. This behaviour is probably due to
the thermal softening of the resin, as a result of the pressure
and heat generated on the reduced contact area. Increasing the
sliding distance, the sphere penetrates more deeply into the
Lubricant Pressure (MPa)a Velocitya (m/min) Time (min) Temperature (◦ C)
Water 0.6 202.5 2 RT
– 25 5.1 16 RT 160 ◦ C
 P.V. Vasconcelos et al. / Wear 260 (2006) 30–39
epoxy surface, increasing the ploughing deformation zone
and the real contact area and consequently raising the fric-
tional force [19].
When the temperature rises to 160 ◦ C, the neat resin be-
haviour is significantly affected. The initial friction coeffi-
cient increases abruptly, and after about 20 m stabilizes to a
magnitude of about 0.65. After this period, the curve tends to
reach a steady state. At this high temperature, the thermally
affected resin layer increases rapidly producing a larger real
contact area and high friction coefficients. The short-term
fluctuations that are present at room temperature are similar
at high temperature.
The addition of aluminium particles to the epoxy system
improves the material stiffness and thermal conductivity by
one order of magnitude [11,20]. The better thermal conduc-
tivity contributes to a more efficient dissipation of the heat
generated on the contact area. Due to the presence of alu-
minium, the friction coefficient (µ) exhibits initial peaks for
µ = 0.5. The initial stage is characterised by a high friction
coefficient (tending to decrease with the distance) and irreg-
ular fluctuations, showing an unstable frictional behaviour
(Fig. 3b). After 20 m of sliding distance, a steady state is
reached.
At 160 ◦ C, the behaviour is similar, but a slight increase
in µ was detected after 20 m of sliding distance.
The incorporation of glass or carbon fibres to the previous
material keeps the friction coefficient practically unchanged
(Fig. 3c and d). At room temperature, the initial highly unsta-
ble frictional behaviour disappears after a short sliding dis-
tance. Both glass and carbon composites show similar friction
behaviour with a slightly higher friction coefficient observed
in the glass fibre composite. At 160 ◦ C, the initial peak and the
Fig. 3. Friction coefficient (µ) as a function of the sliding distance, at room temperature and at 160 ◦ C for: (a) the neat epoxy; (b) aluminium filled epoxy; (c)
glass fibre reinforced EAG composite and (d) carbon fibre reinforced EAC composite.
33
respective instability are also detected and a slightly higher
steady state friction coefficient. At the end of the wear test,
this value increases by 12% in EAC composites and about
9% in EAG composites, relatively to the similar material at
room temperature.
3.1.2. Wear and topography of worn surfaces
(reciprocating tribometer)
Compared with the composites, the neat resin specific
wear rate is reduced, showing that the friction energy is dissi-
pated in the deformation and in the heating up of the plough-
ing zone (Table 5). The spectra of characteristic X-rays (EDS)
of the worn surfaces shows the presence of a significant iron
concentration that is visible in the SEM images as a light grey
region (Fig. 4). The steel sphere suffers wear and incorporates
iron particles in the interfacial layer. Due to the test condi-
tions, these iron particles are certainly oxidised. SEM image
shows multiple parallel microcracks, approximately perpen-
dicular to the sliding direction (vertical direction), indicating
the presence of a fatigue mechanism (Fig. 4a) [21]. Table 5
shows that, at 160 ◦ C, the wear rate increases significantly.
The highest wear, 99.8 × 10−5 mm3 /Nm (Table 5), was
obtained in aluminium filled epoxy with a large production
of debris derived from the particle pullout during the test.
This is due to the decrease of the material integrity, where
the cohesion now depends basically on the aluminium/resin
interface resistance. Wear track micrographs and EDS anal-
ysis show an aluminium loss. In the SEM image of Fig. 5a,
a large plastic deformation of the aluminium particles is ob-
served in the wear surface, masking the real aluminium loss.
The approximately equiaxial aluminium particle geometry
and its chemical nature produce a relatively poor adhesion
34 P.V. Vasconcelos et al. / Wear 260 (2006) 30–39

Table 5
Comparison of the specific wear rate results of epoxy (E), epoxy with aluminium (EA) and epoxy with aluminium and fibres (EAG and EAC) systems, at room
temperature and at 160 ◦ C, determined in the reciprocating tribometer
Materials Specific wear rate (10−5 mm3 /Nm) Percentage increase rate (RT → 160 ◦ C)

RT 160 ◦ C

Mean value Standard deviation Mean value Standard deviation

E 1.82 0.22 4.6 0.23 155
EA 15.5 1.68 99.8 5.42 544
EAG 7.39 0.31 19.1 0.31 158
EAC 8.18 0.57 25.7 0.78 214

force to the epoxy matrix, as suggested in references [22] and
[23]. This fact is responsible for the easy aluminium pull out
under the high contact pressure of the pin. Furthermore, the
aluminium particles are significantly harder than the epoxy
resin (see Table 3), which means that when released from
the composite, they can also act as hard third-body abrasives,
increasing the composite wear rate [24]. This effect would
be enhanced by the probable oxidation of the aluminium into
alumina. Fig. 5b shows microcracks that are now concen-
trated in the particle/resin interface, contributing to the alu-
minium particles debonding. No iron traces were detected in
the composite. Fig. 6 shows that the wear tracks are different
in the initial and final stage of the wear test. It is observed
that in the initial stage, the surface is more wrinkled, prob-
ably due to the severe wear conditions originated by higher
aluminium concentration in the wear track.
When the temperature rises to 160 ◦ C, the wear rate in-
creases about 544% for the selected sliding distance (Table 5).
Similarly to what occurred with the abrasive wear test,
in the reciprocating test the fibre addition to the aluminium
filled epoxy also significantly improves the composite wear
resistance. These tri-phase composites show more integrity,
despite the low fibres concentrations that were employed.
The high aluminium thermal conductivity and fibre stiffness,
combined with the good adhesive bonding between fibres
and epoxy resin, substantially enhances the tribological be-
haviour of the respective composites.
EDS analysis of the final wear track reveals loss of alu-
minium and resin and fibres enrichment relatively to the origi-
nal material. The combination of these materials significantly
improves the wear resistance.
At room temperature, the wear resistance of the carbon
and glass fibre composites is very similar, but at 160 ◦ C, the
wear rate of the carbon fibre composite experiments a 214%
increase, while the glass fibre composite only undergoes a
158% increase (Table 5). These particular changes of the tri-
bological behaviour, due to the thermal effect, can be ex-
plained if one considers, as described below, the fibre and
matrix properties.
Glass fibres display a homogeneous, amorphous and
isotropic microstructure. On the other hand, PAN carbon
fibres are composed by a heterogeneous stacking of fine
crystalline layers of aromatic type (nanometric width) [25].
This intrinsic heterogeneity originates anisotropic thermal
properties, such as thermal conductivity and coefficient
of thermal expansion, CTE. The latter varies from −0.6

Fig. 4. SEM images of the wear track on the neat resin, at room temperature: (a) the light grey contours that surround the microcracks reveal the existence of
iron (secondary electrons, SE) and (b) the iron distribution is clearly detected, composing a fine lace with a good contrast (backscattered electrons, BE).
 P.V. Vasconcelos et al. / Wear 260 (2006) 30–39
Fig. 5. SEM image of the aluminium filled epoxy: (a) on the left side, the surface before wearing, and, on the right side, plastic deformation of the aluminium
particles mask the metallic particles depletion, after wearing (BE) and (b) with high magnification it is possible to see that the microcracks contribute to the
aluminium particles debonding (SE).
to +10 × 10−6 ◦ C−1 on the longitudinal and transversal
direction, respectively. Aluminium and glass fibres also
exhibit low CTE, 23 × 10−6 ◦ C−1 and 5 × 10−6 ◦ C−1 , re-
spectively, while the epoxy resin shows a much higher value,
66 × 10−6 ◦ C−1 [11,26]. Epoxy composites, during the cure
at 200 ◦ C and under normal working conditions, are subjected
to different temperatures. These temperature fluctuations
promote CTE mismatches between the dispersed phases and
the epoxy resin, leading to differential thermal stresses that
can contribute to the degradation of the interface quality
[27].
Fig. 6. SEM images of the worn track of the EA composite. The left side
shows the track in the initial wear stage (the surface is wrinkled due to the
pull out of the aluminium particles), the right side shows the wear track in
the final stage of the test. The asperities are now smaller (SE).
35
SEM images show an extensive carbon fibre fragmentation
(Fig. 7). The wear track profile of the EAC composite is
more irregular than in the EAG composite, which probably
indicates that its surface is prone to suffer more damage and
a more severe wear (Fig. 8).
Fig. 9 shows SEM images of the worn track of the EAG
composite. In the initial wearing stage, an interface layer with
a viscous mixture of resin and fine aluminium debris is ob-
served. At the end of the test, the wear track exhibits lower
aluminium content, resulting in higher resin and glass fibre
concentrations.
Due to the longer friction action of the composite, the alu-
minium particles suffer a severe plastic deformation before
its removal (Fig. 10). Some fragmented fibres appear stacked
to the aluminium particles.
At high temperature, the EAC composites exhibit lower
wear resistance than the EAG composites. This can be ex-
plained by the fact that carbon fibres are more fragmented,
and probably more easily removed from the wear track, than
the glass fibres, which are less brittle than carbon fibres [28].
The influence of the temperature on the mechanical be-
haviour of the epoxy-based materials was examined by dy-
namic mechanical thermoanalysis (DMTA) (Fig. 11). The
results obtained show that, at 160 ◦ C, the neat resin and the
aluminium filled epoxy (EA) experiment a remarkable loss
in their mechanical properties. The tan δ curve, at 160 ◦ C,
demonstrates that the epoxy systems are close to the glass
transition temperature, detected at about 200 ◦ C. EAC and
EAG composites show DMTA behaviour similar to the EA
composites.
The decrease of the matrix modulus with the temperature
affects the fibre–matrix interfacial shear strength, as predicted
by Cox and Cooke theory [29,30] and experimentally demon-
strated by Rao and Drzal [31]. These researchers proved that
36 P.V. Vasconcelos et al. / Wear 260 (2006) 30–39

Fig. 7. SEM images of the wear track of the EAC composite at 160 ◦ C: (a) the aluminium loss in the wear track (at the left side) is clearly visible (BE) and (b)
the wear track shows deformed aluminium particles and fragmented carbon fibres (BE).

Fig. 8. Cross section of the wear track profile of: (a) carbon fibre composite, EAC and (b) glass fibre composite, EAG. The surface topography of the two
composites, before and after wearing, is different, despite the same processing, surface finishing and wear conditions.

Fig. 9. SEM images of the worn track of the EAG composite: (a) on the left side, the wear track in the initial stage of the test (an interface layer with resin and
fine aluminium debris is produced) and (b) on the right side, the wear track at the end of the test.
 P.V. Vasconcelos et al. / Wear 260 (2006) 30–39 37

Fig. 10. SEM images of the wear track of the composites at 160 ◦ C showing the aluminium particles with severe plastic deformation: (a) EAG, epoxy resin
(black), oxidised aluminium (grey), glass fibre (white) (BE) and (b) EAC, epoxy and carbon fibres (grey), aluminium (white) (BE).

Fig. 11. Neat resin (E) and aluminium filled epoxy (EA) DMTA (dynamic mechanical thermoanalysis) results: (a) elastic modulus and (b) tan δ.

the fibre–matrix interfacial shear strength (determined by the
fragmentation analysis), decreases nonlinearly with the ma-
trix modulus. Considering this, the modulus decrease at high
temperatures produces a softening effect, negatively influ-
encing the matrix and interface properties, and consequently
causing the weak tribological performance of all the studied
materials.
When compared with the E neat resin, the aluminium ad-
dition to the resin yields about 25% decrease in Ws , as shown
in Fig. 12.
As it was expected [18,32], adding reinforcement ele-
ments, like milled carbon and glass fibres (EAC and EAG

3.2. Abrasive wear

The SiC particles of the abrasive paper act as multiple

microtools that wear the material to be tested. This abrasive
wear depends on the hardness of the two contacting materials,
cutting properties of the hard particles and microcracking
resistance of the softer material [17]. The test was performed
at low pressure and water lubricated to avoid vibrations and Fig. 12. Specific wear rate in monolithic and composite resins with different
excessive heating. formulations, obtained in the abrasive wear test.
38 P.V. Vasconcelos et al. / Wear 260 (2006) 30–39
composites), enhances the wear resistance, reducing the Ws
by 52 and 56%, respectively, relatively to the neat resin
(Fig. 12).
4. Concluding remarks
Mixtures of fibres and aluminium particles can be used
to optimise mechanical and thermal properties of compos-
ites manufactured for rapid tooling applications. These type
of tools, although less demanding in terms of technologi-
cal requirements than the conventional tools, can exhibit an
adequate performance in applications where a short number
of parts is required, with the enormous advantage of being
obtained in a short period of time.
The neat epoxy resin in the reciprocating test exhibits the
lowest wear. SEM images show that the main mechanism
for energy dissipation is located at the interface layer of the
wear track, involving adhesion contact, plastic deformation,
microcracking and iron transfer. These mechanisms also con-
tribute to the constant increase of the friction coefficient with
the sliding distance.
Due to geometric relations and surface chemistry, the fi-
bres tend to adhere more strongly to the resin matrix than
aluminium particles. Submitted to the high pressure of the
pin, the aluminium particles are easily removed, while the
fibres, staying longer in the tri-phase composite, increase
considerably the load carrying capacity, reducing the friction
coefficient, and consequently the composite wear rate.
High temperatures affect the mechanical properties of the
composite, due to resin softening and reduction of the particle
and fibre/matrix adhesion.
In the reciprocating test, EAG glass reinforced compos-
ites show lower wear rate than the EAC carbon reinforced
composites, and a better tribological behaviour, especially at
high temperature (160 ◦ C). Besides the high stiffness of the
carbon fibres, their brittle nature makes them more prone to
break under severe wear conditions than the glass fibres.
Considering the hardness and stiffness of the raw materi-
als used in the composites, they can be sorted, from the low-
est to the highest value, in the following sequence: epoxy,
aluminium, carbon and glass fibres. In general, softer mate-
rials are more abraded than the harder and stiffer ones. The
abrasive wear behaviour, determined by the metallographic
polishing microabrasion test, has shown that this also hap-
pens with composite materials, since the interface adhesion
resistance between the reinforcing dispersed phase and the
resin matrix can withstand the tangential cutting force of the
abrasive. For this reason, the studied materials exhibited the
following order, from the lowest to the highest wear resis-
tance: E, EA, EAC and EAG.
The milled glass fibres, used in aluminium filled epox-
ies, increase the integrity of the composite material, both at
room and high temperature. They are expected to improve
the erosive wear resistance of the mould during the injection
stage.
Acknowledgements
Financial support from FEDER through the Project
POCTI/EME/41199/2001, “Development of an Indirect
Rapid Tooling Process Based in Polymeric Matrix Compos-
ites”, approved by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia
(FCT) and POCTI.
Partly funded by European Social Fund, public contest
4/5.3/PRODEP/2000, submitted by Escola Superior de Tec-
nologia e Gestão of Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo.
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