Tribological performance of epoxy resin/thermoplastic blends

Plastic based bearings are now established in several applications. One of the most important property of plastic bearings is their compatibility with metal. Marginal lubrication, water lubrication and dry sliding, to avoid the use of lubricant for cleanliness, can extend the application of the plastic bearings. The aim of this work is to study the friction and wear of epoxy resin/thermoplastic blends sliding against steel surface. It is well known that thermosetting materials such as epoxy are suffering from the inherent brittleness and relatively high wear rate while thermoplastics have favorable tribological characteristics. To enable epoxy resin to cope the more severe applications, it is proposed to use thermoplastic powders as filling material. Experiments were carried out using pin on disc wear tester at different values of applied load and sliding velocity to investigate the friction and wear of epoxy test specimens blended by thermoplastic powders. It can be concluded that addition of thermoplastics to epoxy resin has improved wear resistance. This behavior was observed for blends of high density polyethylene (HDPE), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), polyvinylchloride (PVC), and polystyrene (PS). Increasing thermoplastic concentration in blends reduced polymer transfer to the steel counterface and caused significant decrease in coefficient of friction.