Friction coefficient and wear rate of polymer and composite materials at different sliding speeds

In the present study, variation of friction coefficient and wear rate with sliding speed is investigated experimentally when stainless steel 304 (SS 304) pin slides on different types of composite and polymer materials such as cloth reinforced ebonite (commercially known as gear fibre), glass fibre reinforced plastic (glass fibre), nylon and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). To do so, a pin on disc apparatus is designed and fabricated. Experiments are carried out at sliding speed 1, 2, 3 m/s, normal load 15 N and relative humidity 70%. In general, friction coefficient and wear rate increase with the increase in sliding speed for all the tested materials. At identical conditions, the values of friction coefficient of nylon and wear rate of PTFE are highest among the tested materials. On the other hand, the lowest values of friction coefficient and wear rate are different for different materials depending on the sliding speed.