Wear experiments with selected engineering polymers and polymer composites under dry reciprocating sliding conditions

Wear experiments have been carried out with a range of filled and unfilled engineering polymers sliding against a hardened steel mating surface under different conditions of sliding speed, mating surface roughness and roughness orientation. The tests were carried out under dry reciprocating sliding conditions that can be compared to the conditions frequently found in the moving parts of various electronic consumer and professional products and equipment. The results are compared with wear predictions made on the basis of two engineering models commonly used in engineering design for estimating the wear rates of dry rubbing rotating journal and thrust bearings made from polymers. The results are discussed in terms of the influence of the roughness, the roughness orientation and the formation of transfer layers on the wear behaviour.