Connection between dynamic mechanical properties and sliding wear resistance of polymers

The viscoelasticity of several polymers has been determined using dynamic mechanical analysis. For the same materials we have also determined sliding wear in multiple scratching along the same groove. The materials studied were polycarbonate (PC), polystyrene (PS), styrene/acrylonitrile (SAN), Surlyn, polyethersulfone (PES), acrylonitnile/butadiene/styrene ABS), polypropylene (PP), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), low density polypropylene (LDPE) and Santoprene (an elastomer). Sliding wear was determined for several constant loads between 5 and 15 N. The penetration depth R-p and the residual depth R-h obtained from wear tests were confronted with DMA parameters: E', E '' and tan delta. An evident correlation between tan delta and R-p is seen. Both penetration depth and residual depth increase along with tan delta. Surface roughness obtained from atomic force microscopy (AFM) provides another kind of useful tribological information, with the highest value obtained for PS.