Investigation of wear behavior of graphite and wax added polyamide 6

Purpose: This study investigated the tribological properties of composites under dry sliding conditions. Graphite and wax were added as solid lubricant into polyamide 6 (PA 6) polymer, which is a matrix material, to obtain composites. Theory and Methods: For this study, pin samples from PA 6 and composites were prepared in 6 mm diameter and 50 mm length. Wear test were carried out on inhouse designed pin-on-disc arrangement test apparatus. Before each test, each sample was cleaned by alcohol and dried in air. For each material, the dry wear test was carried out for a sliding distance of 4000m, and under load values of 50N and 100N at sliding speeds of 0,4m/s, 0,8m/s, 1,2m/s. After each test the loss in pin mass were recorded. The wear rate was computed from the mass loss of the pin. Results: The increase in load increased the friction coefficient of the pure PA6 and PA6. The pure PA6 had a higher coefficient of friction than PA6.The increase in speed reduced the coefficient of friction of pure PA6 but increased that of PA6 under the abrasion load of 50N. The increase in speed did not cause a change in the coefficient of friction of PA6/10%G but slightly increased that of the other composites under the abrasion load of 100N.The increase in sliding speed increased the wear rate of all specimens. The pure PA6 and PA 6+6% wax had the highest and lowest wear rate depending on sliding speed, respectively. The increase in abrasion load decreased the wear rate of PA 6. Conclusion: It has been observed that the addition of WAX and Graphite together in PA6 improves the tribological properties positively.