MECHANICAL AND TRIBOTECHNICAL PROPERTIES OF MULTICOMPONENT SOLID LUBRICANT COMPOSITES BASED ON ULTRA HIGH MOLECULAR WEIGHT POLYETHYLENE

Multicomponent composites with ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) matrix reinforced by short carbon fibers (CF) and filled with solid lubricant particles of finely dispersed polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) have been studied. It is shown that simultaneous loading of two kinds of microfillers (enforcing and solid lubricant) ensures increasing both mechanical properties (elastic modulus, yield point, shore D hardness) and wear resistance of three-component UHMWPE composites at variation of triboloading conditions. It is shown that at moderate sliding velocity (V = 0.3 m/s) and load (P = 60 N) the rational composition providing maximum wear resistance under dry sliding friction is “UHMWPE + 5 wt. % fluorolite + 5 wt. % CF” (wear resistance is doubled). The latter results from the pattern of the formed permolecular structure and friction surface material response onto tribotechnical loading (due to formation of transfer film).Under severe tribotesting conditions (P = 140 N × V = 0.5 m/s) the two-fold increase in wear resistance demonstrates the composite “UHMWPE + 5 wt. % fluorolite + 10 wt. % CF”. This effect is mostly governed by enforcing action of short carbon fibers. The mechanism of this improvement might be explained in the following way. Friction heating induced increase of the temperature gives rise to local melting and surface layer plasticization. Presence of enforcing fibers ensures better protection of the friction surface from combined action of compressive and shear forces transferred from rotating steel counterface. Friction coefficient, topography of wear track surfaces and wear mechanisms of multicomponent UHMWPE composites are discussed taking into account the data on permolecular structure formation and the temperature in the tribocontact zone.