Effect of Lubrication on Friction and Wear Properties of PEEK with Steel Counterparts

Abstract

Poly-Ether-Ether-Ketone (PEEK) has been widely used for tribological applications with steel counterparts because of its superior mechanical and self-lubricating properties. Fluid lubrication has the potential to further improve the performance of PEEK/steel contacts but its effect has been shown to depend on the operating conditions. To elucidate these aspects and establish the mechanism of fluid lubrication, the friction and wear properties of the PEEK/steel contacts in both dry and poly-α-olefin (PAO) lubricated conditions were investigated by tribological tests and surface analytical techniques. The nanoindentation measurements showed that lubrication with PAO had a softening effect on the wear track of PEEK, but no correlation was established with the wear of PEEK. The tribological behavior, for both dry and lubricated contacts, was correlated with the thickness of PEEK transfer films on the steel counterparts. The thickness of these films, as determined by Electron Probe Micro Analysis (EPMA) and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), was controlled by the rates of their formation and removal and depended on the operating conditions. Moreover, lubrication with PAO inhibited not only the formation but also the removal of PEEK transfer films. This study thus sheds light on the mechanism of fluid lubrication of the PEEK/steel contacts.

Correlating surface topography of relaxed layer of ZA/ZrB2 in situ composites to wear and friction

“…Lubrication acts as a protective film between the asperities of counter surface, resulting in less friction and wear [20]. Tatsumi et al [21] have investigated the effect of lubricants on the tribology of PEEK with steel counter surface and reported that lubrication reduces friction and softening effect on wear track. Under lubrication conditions, bronze-based alloys are extensively used for tribological applications, especially in automobile and machinery parts [22,23].…”

Soft EHL-Based Friction Mechanism of Unreinforced and GF-Reinforced PA66 in Contact with Steel Under PAO8 Oil Lubrication

“…Several studies on the tribology of engineering plastics including PA66 have been conducted under dry conditions owing to the self-lubrication properties of the plastic material, and the effects of each parameter including the contact pressure [16,17], sliding speed [16,18], and temperature [19,20,21] on the friction or wear properties have been reported. Few works, however, have focused on the typical friction properties of lubricated engineering plastics including PA66 [22,23,24,25,26]. Kochi et al [25] measured the thickness of a lubricant film, on the basis of soft elastic hydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) theory on the contact of bearing steel and polycarbonate (PC).…”