| The effect of the metal counterface on the wear of nylon 6/6 is investigated. The literature suggests that adhesive wear does occur between metals and polymers. There is also a suggestion that the wear of a polymer against a metal counterface may be related to the ability of the metal to be wet by the molten polymer. Experimental work is described which attempts to determine the difference in wear coefficients against different metal counterfaces (low carbon steel, aluminum, stainless steel, electrolytic and electroless nickel plating, and electrolytic zinc plating) and to model the wear in terms of the adhesive/abrasive wear equations. Additionally, the wear coefficients are related to the wettability of the metals by the molten polymer as determined by a spreading diameter test. Further work is done to model the wear behavior of nylon 6/6 against a metal counterface in terms of a severity of rubbing model and to relate the range of low wear shown by such a model to the wettability of the metal by the polymer. It is shown that the extent of the low wear zone does relate to the wettability. XPS examination of the metal and polymer wear surfaces was also attempted. The results are explained in terms of the practical considerations of materials selection for low wear applications. |
