Abstract
The widespread use of thermoplastic polymeric materials in various industrial fields has shown considerable interest in understanding the frictional and wear behavior. Among these polymers, polytetrafluoroethylene, also called PTFE, is a high-performance plastic that offers high chemical and thermal resistance and low friction. Additives such as fiberglass, carbon and graphite fillers are added to PTFE to significantly increase thermal conductivity, stiffness and self-lubricating properties. The materials subjected to the experimental analysis were pure PTFE, PTFE + 15% fiberglass, PTFE + carbon-graphite which slipped, under conditions of dry friction, on a sample of non-alloy steel construction SR EN 10025 from 1994. The tests were performed on a pin-on-disc tribometer. The effect of loading and sliding speed on the tribological properties of the polymer / steel combination under dry slip conditions was investigated and the specific wear rate for the experimental conditions was evaluated. The tests were performed at loads of the pin of Fn1=1N, Fn2=3N, Fn3=5N and Fn4=10N and sliding speeds of 1=1m/s, 2=3m/s. The results obtained indicated that the coefficient of friction decreases with increasing load. The wear rate for the analyzed materials was between 10-13...10-15 m2/N, the fiberglass reinforced PTFE material having the lowest wear rate. The present paper, through a comparative analysis of the friction and wear behavior, highlights the effects that the ingredients introduced in the basic material have, under the action of the exploitation factors (loading, sliding speed).
Highlights
Numerous tribological research conducted for the coupling of metal / polymer materials was due to the fact that this pair of materials do not comply with the "friction laws" established for metal contacts in relative motion
In this paper the materials proposed for the experiment are: - Pure PTFE, used in various industrial applications due to its good properties related to friction and wear
The main purpose of this paper is to presents a comparative study, on a pin / disc type friction stand, of the friction and wear properties of pure polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), fiberglass-reinforced PTFE, and 25% carbon-graphite reinforced PTFE sliding on a surface of the steel, in conditions of dry friction
Summary
Numerous tribological research conducted for the coupling of metal / polymer materials was due to the fact that this pair of materials do not comply with the "friction laws" established for metal contacts in relative motion. The tribological peculiarities of polymeric materials are determined by their viscoelastic properties, by the low conductivities associated with the generation of heat in the frictional materials, by the melting points significantly lower than those of metals [1,2,3,4,5,6]. This is necessary because thermoplastic polymeric materials are increasingly used in industrial applications as metal substitutes, for the realization of various machine parts (bearings and bearing bushes, bearings, compression segments, and so on). In the literature [1,7,8] it has been indicated that when polymers are reinforced with glass fibers, carbon, graphite the coefficient of friction can generally be reduced and the wear resistance improved
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