Nature and mechanism of friction of rubberlike polymers in different physical states

Abstract

We have investigated the frictional properties of crosslinked butadiene-nitrile and butadiene-styrene copolymers and natural rubber in friction against polished steel under vacuum conditions in the temperature interval from −200 to +150° C, which embraces the glassy and high-elastic states, as well as the transition region between them. The temperature dependence of polymer friction is characterized by two maxima, a principal and a low-temperature maximum. The principal maximum, observed in the glass transition region, is not associated with the mechanical loss maximum observed in the polymers themselves. The temperature dependence of the force of friction is composed of three parts. In the high-elastic region there is an increase in the force of friction with fall in temperature, in accordance with the molecular-kinetic theory of friction of rubberlike polymers. In this region the nature of friction is associated with mechanical losses in the surface layer of polymer. The mechanical losses inside the polymer itself are unimportant. The deviation from the theoretical curve and the fall in the force of friction below a certain temperature in the transition region are chiefly associated with a decrease in the actual area of contact as the polymer passes into the glassy state. In the glassy region the friction is significantly determined by the mechanical losses in the polymer itself associated with the repeated elastic and forced-elastic deformation of the asperities in the layer of polymer in contact with the rigid surface. Therefore the low-temperature maximum is closely related to the mechanical loss maximum observed in the same temperature region in dynamic tests. Apart from this, the friction maximum is also associated with the increase in the forces of adhesion and the reduction of the actual area of contact at temperatures at which a forced-elastic mechanism of compression of the polymer asperities is not realized.