Influence of test conditions on the tribological properties of polymers

The tribological problems of polymers have received more attention because of their suitability for fabricating machine elements in food industry, which require self lubrication environment. In this investigation, we studied and explored the influence of test speed and load values on the friction and wear behaviour of PTFE, POM and PEI polymers. Friction and wear tests of PTFE, POM and PEI vs steel were carried out at dry condition on a pin-on-disc arrangement. Tribological tests were carried out at room temperature, under 5, 10 and 15 N loads and at 0.5, 0.75 and 1 m/s speeds. The specific wear rates were deduced from mass loss. The results showed that, for all the polymers used in this investigation, the coefficient of friction increases linearly with the increase in load. Moreover, for the load and speed range of this investigation, the wear rate showed very little sensitivity to the applied load and large sensitivity to test speed, particularly at high load values.