Polymeric Composites: Failures in Dry Sliding on Steel

Abstract

The investigation of a tribosystem failure is important in establishing its causes with the highest probability. This paper proposes a discussion on particular aspects of failure in polymeric composites sliding against steel in dry regime. At micro level, failure mechanisms of polymeric composites in dry sliding on steel could explain damages or malfunctioning at macro scale and initiate solutions. Investigating the tribolayers of both components in contact by scanning electron microscopy or optical microscopy helps identifying dominant wear mechanisms and failures produces under given operating conditions of the system. These conditions could be partially or totally reproduced at laboratory scale, with simpler testers that will facilitate this investigation at micro scale. The authors concluded that these studies of the failure mechanisms, based on images before and after test end are beneficial in understanding the tribological behavior of polymeric composite sliding against steel and in improving the operating parameters of a system, including precision, durability, maintenance and could be the initiation of formulating a new composite, a new shape or/and a new set of functioning parameters of the system.