Effect of Gamma Irradiation Dose on the Interface and Tribological Properties of Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene

Acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) resins may undergo varying degrees of degradation in an irradiated environment, which may affect their tribological properties. Six groups of ABS resins were treated with different doses of gamma irradiation, and the changes in the chemical composition of ABS resins with different irradiation doses were investigated by using Fourier transform infrared-spectroscopy attenuated total reflection (ATR-FTIR) and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results show that the oxidation reaction on the surface of ABS resin generates C=O, -OH, and C-O groups with the increase of irradiation dose. The degree of oxidation increases with the increase of irradiation dose. To study the change of tribological properties of ABS resin with the increase of irradiation dose, reciprocal wear tests on ABS resin with different doses. Experimental results show that the average friction coefficient of ABS resin increases gradually with the rise in irradiation dose, reaches saturation at 250 kGy, and decreases gradually. The wear amount shows a trend of first decreasing and then gradually increasing. The microscopic morphology of the wear scars was observed by SEM, which shows that the wear mechanism in the first stage (0-50 kGy) is dominated by adhesive wear, that in the second stage (100-250 kGy) is dominated by fatigue wear, and that in the third stage (500-750 kGy) is dominated by a mixed mode of fatigue wear, material spalling, and abrasive wear.