NANO-TRIBOLOGY OF A POLYTETRAFLUOROETHYLENE TRANSFER FILMS USING MOLECULAR DYNAMICS SIMULATION AND MICROTRIBOMETRY

摘要

Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is a well known solid lubricant and polymer nanocomposites based on PTFE are considered to be promising materials for tribological applications in space. Like other polymer materials, many properties of PTFE depend on morphology. In this study, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are performed to examine the effect of chain configuration on the frictional behavior of PTFE at the molecular level and compared to microtribological studies on aligned transfer films of PTFE.