| Abstract: | Tribological studies were performed on the friction and wear behaviour of polymers under conditions of dry sliding. The investigations were carried out with thermoplastics suitable for practical applications, eg HDPE, PP, PTFE, PA 6, PA 66, POM, PETP, PBTP, PI, as well as with some filled and reinforced polymers and composite materials. For polymer-polymer sliding pairs, the experimentally determined friction values could be related to the surface energies of the material pairings. In the case of polymer-metal sliding pairs, a relationship between the combined interfacial stresses and the rupture strength of the polymers was found. In addition to the review of correlations between the tribological behaviour of thermoplastics and material properties, the dependency of wear and friction on surface roughness, sliding velocity and contact pressure for various filled polymers is described. |
