Effect of polyester fiber orientation on the tribological properties of ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene composites for water lubrication

Abstract

Frictional pairs tend to suffer severe friction and abrasion under low velocity and heavy load conditions even in aqueous environment. Polyester fibers (PETF) with different orientations were used to reinforce ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) to prepare novel composites with multi-layer directional structure. The obtained composites were subjected to mechanical and tribological tests. The results revealed that adding PETF can improve the ultimate flexural strength and reduce friction coefficient of the composites. Moreover, the performance of the composites with fibers oriented along the axial direction was better than that of the randomly-oriented fiber composite (ROFC) in all cases. The oriented fibers could further enhance the composites and solve the high wear volume problem after the addition of PETF.