Materials and Design 24 (2003) 183–187

Friction and wear behaviour of unfilled engineering thermoplastics

H. Unala, A. Mimaroglub,*
a
University of Sakarya, Faculty of Technical Education, Esentepe Kampusu, Adapazari, Turkey
b
University of Sakarya, Faculty of Engineering, Esentepe Kampusu, Adapazari, Turkey

Received 30 August 2002; accepted 9 January 2003

Abstract

Friction, wear and fatigue are three most commonly encountered industrial problems leading to the replacement of components
and assemblies in engineering. In this investigation we studied and explored the influence of test speed and load values on the
friction and wear behaviour of polyamide 6 (PA 6), polyoxymethylene (POM) and ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene
(UHMWPE) engineering polymers. Friction and wear tests of those polymers against ostenitic stainless steel were carried out at
dry condition on a pin-on-disc arrangement. These tests were carried out at room temperature, under 20-, 30- and 40-N loads and
at 0.88 and 1.76 mys sliding speeds. The specific wear rates were obtained from mass loss. The results showed that the coefficient
of friction for polyamide 6, POM and UHMWPE slightly increases with the increase in load. At 0.88 mys sliding speed, the
specific wear rate for polyamide 6 and UHMWPE were in the order of 10y6 mm3 yNm while the wear rate value for POM was
in the order of 10y5 mm3 yNm. Moreover, for the range of load and speeds of this investigation, the specific wear rate showed
very little sensitivity to the applied load and large sensitivity to test speed.
䊚 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Wear; Friction; Engineering thermoplastics

1. Introduction moplastic polymeric materials into three distinct groups

The tribological problems of polymers have received
most attention because of their suitability for fabricating
machine elements in food industry, which require a self-
lubrication environment. In this case, polymers are
extensively used in active engineering components such
as gears and cams where their self lubricating properties
are exploited to avoid the need for oil or grease
lubrication with its attendant problems of contamination.
However, where the contact is, is the problem of friction
and wear. The friction between polymers can be attrib-
uted to two main mechanisms: deformation; and adhe-
sion. In this case, the deformation mechanism involves
complete dissipation of energy in the contact area while
the adhesion component is responsible for the friction
of polymer and is a result of breaking weak bonding
forces between polymer chains in the bulk of the
material w1–3x. In fact, tribologists often classify ther-
*Corresponding author. Tel.: q90-264-3460353; fax: q90-264-
3460351.
E-mail address: mimarog@sakarya.edu.tr (A. Mimaroglu).
according to their friction and wear behaviour. These
are: the ‘smooth molecular profile’ such as ultra-high
molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE); the normal
polymers such as polypropylene (PP); and the amor-
phous polymers such as polymethyl-methacrylate
(PMMA). Among them, the better frictional perform-
ance of the smooth molecular profile polymers can be
explained by the easiness with which the long chain
molecules shear across each other w4x.
There have been numerous investigations exploring
the influence of test conditions, contact geometry and
environment on the friction and wear behaviour of
polymers. Yamaguchi w5x, Hooke et al. w6x and Lawrence
et al. w7x report that the coefficient of friction can,
generally, be reduced and the wear resistance with
polymer sliding against steel improved by selecting the
right material combinations. Santner et al. w8x, Brentnall
et al. w9x and Clerico w10x observed that the friction
coefficient of polymers rubbing against metals decreases
with the increase in load while Stuart w11x and Yama-
guchi w5x showed that its value increases with the
increase in load. Ludema et al. w12x showed good

0261-3069/03/$ - see front matter 䊚 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/S0261-3069(03)00018-9
184 H. Unal, A. Mimaroglu / Materials and Design 24 (2003) 183–187

Table 2
Coefficient of friction values for polyamide 6, POM and UHMWPE
polymers tested at different load and speed values

Materials Load Speed (mys)

(N)
0.88 1.76
Coefficient of friction
Polyamide 6 20 0.09
30 0.11 0.15
40 0.12
POM 20 0.12
30 0.17 0.21
40 0.15
UHMWPE 20 0.15
Fig. 1. Schematic Diagram of wear test rig. 30 0.18 0.18
40 0.20
correlation between rolling coefficient friction and
damping loss factor of polymeric materials in function
of testing temperature. Watanabe et al. w13x, Tanaka w14x pin specimens of size 6-mm diameter and 50-mm length
and Bahadur et al. w15x has reported that the tribological were tested against ostenitic stainless steel. Fig. 1
behaviour of polyamide, HDPE and their composites is represents a schematic diagram of the pin-on-disc wear
affected greatly by normal load, sliding speed and test rig that was designed and used for this work. As
temperature. Moreover, Wang et al. w16x have investi- shown in this figure, the rig consists of a stainless steel
gated the sliding wear behaviour of UHMWPE. They table which is mounted on a turntable, a variable speed
reported that the sliding velocity shows greater influence motor which provide the unidirectional motion to the
on the wear loss than load. turntable, hence to the disk sample and a pin sample
In this study, tribological behaviour for polyamide 6, holder which is rigidly attached to a pivoted loading
POM and UHMWPE polymers were investigated. Dur- arm. This loading arm is supported in bearing arrange-
ing the tests, the mass loss with time, applied load and ments to allow loads to be applied to the specimen.
sliding speed were recorded. Friction and wear tests During the test, friction force was measured by a
were carried out on a pin-on-disc arrangement and at a transducer mounted on the loading arm. The friction
dry condition, at room temperature, under 20-, 30- and force readings were traced during a 1-h test time. For
40-N loads and at 0.88-, and 1.76-mys speeds. Ostenitic this purpose a microprocessor controlled data acquisition
stainless steel was used for the disc material. Finally, system was used. Materials and the specific test condi-
the specific wear rates were deduced from mass loss tions, (i.e. materials, ambient temperature, speed and
and reported. humidity) selected for this study is summarised in Table
1. Wear rates were calculated from mass loss during
2. Experimental details wear process. Sliding wear data reported here are the
2.1. Friction and wear tests average of at least three runs.

Dry sliding wear tests were conducted on a pin-on-

disc friction and wear testing machine. The cylindrical

Table 1
Materials and test conditions

Materials Density Test temperature Load Speed Humidity

(g cmy3) (8C) (N) (mys) (%)
20
Polyamide 6 1.13 28"1 30 0.88 63
40 1.76
20
POM 1.42 23"1 30 0.88 62
40 1.76
20
UHMWPE 0.94 27"1 30 0.88 63
40 1.76 Fig. 2. Relationship between mass loss and sliding time of polyamide
6, load 30 N (sliding speeds0.88 and 1.76 mys).
 H. Unal, A. Mimaroglu / Materials and Design 24 (2003) 183–187
Fig. 3. Relationship between mass loss and sliding time of POM, load
30 N (sliding speeds0.88 and 1.76 mys).
Fig. 4. Relationship between mass loss and sliding time of UHMWPE,
load 30 N (sliding speeds0.88 and 1.76 mys).
3. Results and discussions
Table 2 presents friction coefficient values for poly-
amide 6, POM and UHMWPE tested at room tempera-
Fig. 5. Relationship between coefficient of friction and sliding time
of polyamide 6, POM and UHMWPE polymers load 30 N (sliding
speeds0.88 mys).
185
Fig. 6. Relationship between coefficient of friction and sliding time
of polyamide 6, POM and UHMWPE polymers load 30 N (sliding
speeds1.76 mys).
ture, at dry wear conditions and at 20-, 30- and 40-N
loads and at 0.88 and 1.76 mys sliding speeds. Figs. 2–
4 illustrate the variation of mass loss of polyamide 6,
POM and UHMWPE with sliding time, respectively. It
is clear from these results that the mass loss increases
linearly with sliding time which present a steady state
wear region. Figs. 5 and 6 show the variation of friction
coefficients of polyamide 6, POM and UHMWPE with
sliding time, tested at 0.88 and 1.76 mys sliding speeds,
respectively. These results show that under 30-N load,
there is no change in friction coefficient value for
UHMWPE while there is an average increase of 23 and
36% in friction coefficient value for POM and PA 6
with a 100% increase in speed, respectively. Fig. 7
represents the variation of coefficient of friction with
load. For polyamide 6, POM and UHMWPE and at the
range of speeds used in this investigation, the coefficient
of friction slighly increases with the increase in load. It
is known that polymers are visco-elastic materials and
that their deformation under load is viscoelastic. There-
fore, the variation of friction coefficient with load
Fig. 7. Relationship between coefficient of friction and load for poly-
amide 6, POM and UHMWPE polymers (sliding speeds0.88 mys).
186 H. Unal, A. Mimaroglu / Materials and Design 24 (2003) 183–187

Table 3 will increase because of the critical surface energy of

Mass loss values for polyamide 6, POM and UHMWPE polymers at the polymer. Moreover, this is explained as the frictional
different load and speed values
heat raised the temperature of the friction surfaces,
Materials Load Speed (mys) which led to relaxation of polymer molecule chains.
(N) Table 3 represents the mass loss in polyamide 6, POM
0.88 1.76
Mass loss (g m) and UHMWPE tested under 20-, 30- and 40-N load and
at 0.88 and 1.76 mys sliding speeds. Table 4 represents
Polyamide 6 20 0.0002 the specific wear rate values calculated from mass loss
30 0.0002 0.0003
40 0.0004 data of Table 3. Fig. 8 represents the variation of specific
wear rate with load and at 0.88 mys sliding speed. In
POM 20 0.0028
30 0.0038 0.0246
general, the specific wear rate for polyamide 6 and
40 0.0050 UHMWPE are in the order of 10y6 mm3 yNm while
POM is in the order 10y5 mm3 yNm. In the sliding
UHMWPE 20 0.0003
30 0.0003 0.0004 speed and load range of this investigation, the highest
40 0.0004 wear rate is for POM with a value of 2.88=10y4 mm3 y

Table 4
Specific wear rates for polyamide 6, POM and UHMWPE polymers
tested at different load and speed values

Materials Load Speed (mys)

(N)
0.88 1.76
Specific wear rate mm3yNm
Polyamide 6 20 4.42 E-6
30 2.95 E-6 4.42 E-6
40 4.42 E-6
POM 20 4.93 E-5
30 4.46 E-5 2.88 E-4
40 4.40 E-6
UHMWPE 20 7.97 E-6
30 5.32 E-6 7.09 E-6
40 5.32 E-6

follows the equation msK=N (ny1) where m is the

coefficient of friction, N is the load, K constant and n
is also a constant, its value 2y3-n-1. According to
this equation, the coefficient of friction decreases with
the load increase. But when the load increases to the
limit load value of the polymer, the friction and wear

Fig. 8. Relationship between specific wear rate and load for polyamide Fig. 9. Microscopy of worn surfaces of (a) POM, (b) UHMWPE and
6, POM and UHMWPE polymers (sliding speeds0.88 mys). (c) polyamide 6.
 H. Unal, A. Mimaroglu / Materials and Design 24 (2003) 183–187
Nm at 1.76-mys speed and under 30-N load. The lowest
wear rate is 7.97=10y6 mm3 yNm for UHMWPE at
0.88-mys speed and under 20-N load value. At 0.88 my
s sliding speed and 30-N load, the wear rates for POM
is 14 and 7.5 times higher than that of PA 6 and
UHMWPE, respectively. For all materials tested in this
investigation, the load values have not shown any
significant influence on the specific wear rate of the
material. At 30-N load for a 100% increase in sliding
speed, there are 50, 33 and 545% increase in specific
wear rate of polyamide 6, UHMWPE and POM under
30-N load, respectively. It is well known that wear
process involve fracture, tribochemical effects and plas-
tic flow. Transitions between regions dominated by each
of these processes commonly lead to changes in wear
rate with load and sliding speed. In addition, this result
is closely related to structure characteristics, and chem-
ical effects occurred in frictional processes as well as
transfer film formation on the counter face.
Fig. 9 represents the microscopy examination of worn
surfaces of POM, UHMWPE and polyamide 6, respec-
tively. At 40-N load and 0.88 mys sliding speed, POM
and UHMWPE materials showed a wrinkled with wavy
morphology surface, see Fig. 9a,b. This is due to the
heating effect of friction which promoted a temperature
rise hence, softening the polymer surface, and as a
result, the wear regime can be a severe surface with
wrinkling occurrence. On the other hand, polyamide 6
worn surface showed sliding with wider and deeper
grooves, see Fig. 9c.
4. Conclusions
Based on the results of dry friction and wear tests
presented above, we can draw the following conclusions:
1. The wear rates of polyamide 6 and UHMWPE were
in the order of 10y6 while for POM it is in the order
of 10y5 mm3 yNm.
2. At the range of load and speed studied in this work.
The friction coefficient values of polyamide 6,
UHMWPE and POM slightly increase with load.
187
3. The highest specific wear rate was observed in POM
and the lowest is for UHMWPE polymer.
4. In general, the wear rate is not influenced by the
change in load.
5. For the specific range of load and speed explored in
this study, the speed has stronger affect on the wear
rate of polyamide 6, UHMWPE and POM than the
load.
6. Worn surfaces for POM, UHMWPE and polyamide
6 are wrinkled and grooved, respectively.
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