Abrasive wear and abrasion testing of PA 6 and PEEK composites in small-scale model system

Abstract

Abrasion wear is one of the most common failure mechanisms of moving machine elements. Because of their mechanical and tribological ability, engineering polymer composites can be chosen to replace metal parts in certain applications (e.g. bearings). Increasingly newer polymer composites are appearing and data on their tribological behaviours are incomplete, it is not so easy to choose from this wide wide selection of choices (mechanical properties, price, etc.). In the present study two groups of polymer composites (PA 6 and PEEK with different mechanical properties and prices) are experimentally investigated by a unique small-scale abrasion tribotesting. The main objectives of our study were to compare the tribological properties of composites and to investigate the effect of different additives and mechanical properties. The tests were prepared using the pin on plane (band) model system and tested on different loads (11.5 N and 23 N), where the abrasion mating surface was emery cloth. We found among other things that the fillings have a favourable effect on PA opposite to PEEK. The short carbon fibres proved better for improving wear resistance as compared to short glass fibres. Our present work is connected to a research project, which aims to map the tribological features of different polymer composites.