STUDIES ON TRIBOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF ULTRA HIGH MOLECULAR WEIGHT POLYETHYLENE HYBRID COMPOSITES USING RESPONSE SURFACE METHODOLOGY

摘要

In this work, the tribological properties of ultra high molecular weight polyeth- ylene(UHMWPE) hybrid composites filled with different weight percentage of zeolite and with constant weight percentage of polyether ether ketonehave been studied. The wear test was carried out at various wear parameters such asload, wt. % of filler, sliding speed and sliding distance on a pin on disc wear tester in dry sliding environment. The samples were slid against SiC abrasive paper of 1200grit size. A statistic method response surface methodology has been used to conduct experiments and to analyse the tribological properties of UHMWPE composites. Analysis of variance has been used to find out the influence of wear parameters on specific wear rate and coefficient of friction. The results revealed that the most significant factor that leaves an effect on specific wear rate is sliding distance followed by load and filler content. For coefficient of friction, load was identified as most persuasive parameter followed by wt. % of filler content. Sliding speed offers less contribution to tribological properties. The microhardness of the UHMWPE composites was found out to increase with the filler loading. The abraded worn surfaces of UHMWPE and its hybrid composites were studied through Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope. The results revealed that the microhardness and wear resistance of the composites significantly increased with the reinforcement of zeolite and PEEK.