Effect of Thermal Degradation of FKM on Three-Body Abrasion under Dry Sliding: Severe Damage Led by the Particle Detention

Abstract

Both the high temperature and particle environment at the downhole greatly aggravate the abrasive wear and shorten the service life of the fluororubber (FKM) seal seriously in drilling engineering. At present, there is less awareness of the tribological behavior of seals in such complex working conditions. In this work, the abrasive wear performance of the thermally degraded FKM seal was tested in the form of simulating the intrusion of abrasive particles into the interface. Results show that the wear of both rubber seals and metal counterparts is exacerbated. Through the analysis of the wear scar morphology and friction coefficient, it is revealed that more abrasive caves scatter on the surface due to the mechanical degradation of the FKM. These abrasion caves reduce the tendency of particles to escape from the caves and prolong the abrasive action. Furthermore, the abrasion cave alters the particle motion from sliding to rolling, which leads to more caves generated on the surface of the hard tribo-pair. These results enhance the understanding of the abrasive wear for FKM seals and hopefully contribute to the promotion of seals used in hot abrasive particle environments.

Influence of rotation speed on abrasive wear behavior of the UHMWPE in lubrication environment

“…The transformation of the wear morphology can be ascribed to the suspension of the hard particles in the slurry, causing damage to the friction pairs in different motions 45 . It has been reported that the form of particle motion within the friction interface depends mainly on the state of the forces on the particles 46 …”

“…45 It has been reported that the form of particle motion within the friction interface depends mainly on the state of the forces on the particles. 46 The presentation of the lubrication state at different speed conditions can help to explain the state of the particle forces. The Stribeck curve can well explain the lubrication state of friction pairs, and the bearing modulus was calculated according to Equation (3).…”

Research status and prospect of wear and aging on hydraulic rubber sealing materials

“…The change in the type of wear, especially the appearance of adhesive wear, directly leads to the deterioration of the seal subsurface. The identification of the wear mechanism transformation enhances our understanding of the abrasive wear degradation of rubber seals [82].…”

Friction and Wear Properties of Wheat Straw Powder Third Body on Steel-Steel Friction Pair

“…The particle size has a significant effect on the friction and wear properties of the particle. A large number of studies have shown that exogenous metals such as copper powder [10], copper-graphite powder [11], iron powder [12], and other powders have important effects on the friction and wear properties of friction pairs under various lubrication conditions [13][14][15][16][17][18]. Concurrently, in agricultural machinery research, many studies using three-dimensional scanning and other technologies are discovering that soil particles or other factors have an important influence on the wear and durability of the plowshare [19][20][21].…”