Improving the Tribological Properties of Technical Polymers with Metal Sulphide Compounds

Abstract

Technical thermoplastic materials (e.g., PEEK, PPA and POM) are widely used for tribological applications combined with different filler systems (e.g., glass- or carbon fibres) because of their excellent mechanical properties. The friction and wear behaviour of thermoplastics can be specifically improved by solid lubrication systems such as graphite, PTFE and MoS2. Besides these systems, others such as WoS2 and MnS are becoming scientifically interesting. This work investigates the influence of different solid lubricants—alternative metal sulphides and polymer-based—in combination with different glass fibre contents on the tribological behaviour of unfilled PEEK and glass fibre-filled PPA. For this purpose, compounds were produced and injection-moulded into tribological test specimens that were subsequently tested. It is particularly evident for both matrix materials that the solid lubricant SLS 22 shows a 25% wear rate reduction when compared to MoS2 and, in addition, the proportion of fibre content in PPA shows an additional wear rate reduction by a factor of 10. The friction level could be kept at a similar level compared to the usually utilised solid lubricants. The investigations showed the potential use of metal sulphide filler systems in high-performance thermoplastic with enhanced tribological properties as alternatives to the well-established solid lubricants.

Research on Friction and Wear Properties of Rubber Composites by Adding Glass Fiber during Mixing

“…This test was performed on the RPA 2000, and the test conditions were set as follows. The silica Durocher Stabilized Cool Down scan test conditions were 0.01 Hz scan frequency, 0.28–40% scan strain range, and 60 °C temperature, and the dynamic modulus G’ curve with strain was obtained [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ].…”

A review of advances in tribology in 2020–2021

“…The oriented fibers could further enhance the composites and solve the high wear volume problem after the addition of PETF. Hausberger et al [202] studied the tribological properties of PEEK and PPA-based compounds and the influence of alternative metal sulfide solid lubricants in combination with different glass fiber contents. They found the beneficial effect of adding metal sulfide filler systems to different matrices on tribological performance, in which the matrix-filler-bonding has a crucial impact.…”

Investigation of Wear Behavior in Self-Lubricating ABS Polymer Composites Reinforced with Glass Fiber/ABS and Glass Fiber/Carbon Fiber/ABS Hybrid

“…Hausberger et al investigated the fabrication of composites using metal sulphides and polymer-based solid lubricants incorporated with glass fiber polyetheretherketone and glass fiber-filled polyphthalamide. The results showed a reduced wear rate, indicating the potential of these composites for tribological applications [19]. Glass fibers are relatively inexpensive and possess properties such as hardness, chemical resistance, transparency, stability, inertness, high strength-to-weight ratio, flexibility, and stiffness [20,21].…”