Mechanical and tribological behavior of HNBR modified by ion implantation, influence of aging

Abstract

Industrial use of rubber ranges a broad field of applications, which many of them would require better surface characteristics such as a lower friction coefficient, improved wear resistance or low permeability. Ion bombardment of polymers has proven to have a great potential for improving polymers' surface mechanical and tribological properties.In this work, a HNBR surface was subjected to nitrogen plasma source ion implantation (PSII). In order to evaluate the influence of aging on the surface treatment, tensile mechanical fatigue and thermal aging were performed. Surface characterization by SEM showed that the HNBR surface aspect was greatly modified by ion bombardment. Tensile mechanical testing showed no major modifications of the tensile properties. The tribological behavior was tested with a high load (250N) tribometer. Results showed that the CoF (Coefficient of friction) can be divided by a factor up to 3 for treated HNBR. Wear resistance of the treated surfaces was characterized by multiple consecutive tribotests. SEM assisted surface analysis after testing shows that the morphology has been greatly altered. The results obtained also shows little influence of thermal aging and tensile mechanical fatigue on the tribological properties.