中国科学院材料磨损与防护重点实验室/先进润滑与防护材料研究发展中心知识库

The effects of temperature, sliding speed and load on the tribological properties of polyimide (PI), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and polyetheretherketone (PEEK) at cryogenic temperature in vacuum were investigated using a ball-on-disk tribometer. At cryogenic temperature, polymers show higher hardness which results in decreasing contact area between the friction pairs. Moreover, the real surface area in contact between steel ball and polymer disk determines the friction coefficient instead of the formation and adhesion of the transfer film. Thus, the friction coefficients at cryogenic temperatures are lower than at room temperature. On the other hand, wear rates of the three polymers decrease as temperature decreases since molecular mobility and migration are limited at cryogenic temperatures. For the visco-elasticity of PI, PTFE and PEEK, the friction coefficients fall as the load increases.