Evaluation of Tribological Properties of Organoclay Reinforced UHMWPE Nanocomposites

Abstract

The current study is aimed to investigate the tribological properties of ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) reinforced with organoclay Cloisite (C15A). Nanocomposites are prepared using a high energy ball milling process followed by hot pressing. Three different loadings of 0.5 wt.%, 1.5 wt.%, and 3 wt.% of C15A, respectively, are used as reinforcement. Results from the ball-on-disk wear tests showed that nanocomposites reinforced with 1.5 wt.% of C15A exhibited best wear resistance and lower coefficient of friction (COF), with C15A reducing the wear rate by 41% and the COF by 38%, when compared to the pristine UHMWPE. These improvements are attributed to the uniform dispersion of the nanosized clay platelets preventing large-scale material removal and formation of a thin tenacious, continuous transfer film on the counterface for C15A organoclay composites. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and optical profilometry are used to characterize the morphology of the nanocomposites and the wear tracks. SEM images of worn surfaces indicated more abrasive wear for the case of pristine UHMWPE as compared to organoclay composites.

Effect of reduced graphene oxide amount on the tribological properties of UHMWPE biocomposites under water-lubricated conditions

“…Figure 1 showed the XRD diffractograms of unfilled UHM-WPE and UHMWPE/RGO biocomposites. The two peaks at 2θ° = 21.56 and 2θ° = 23.92, that appear in all diffractograms, correspond to the (110) and (200) planes of the orthorhombic crystal [19]. Inclusion of 0.7 wt% and 3.0 wt% RGO filling reduced the intensity of both UHM-WPE peaks, which could be attributed to modification of matrix crystallinity [20].…”

Tribology of Natural Fibers Composite Materials: An Overview

“…Synthetic materials are widely used as fillers in various composites. Good mechanical properties, such as strength, stiffness, flexibility, and fire resistance, are some of advantages of the synthetic fibers and they are used as reinforcements to improve the tribological behavior of neat polymers [45,[91][92][93][94][95]. However, the high cost and their impact on environmental pollution diminishes their advantage to be the leading fillers of polymer composites.…”

İndirgenmiş Grafen Oksit Katkılı UHMWPE Kompozitin Kuru ve Sulu Ortamlarda Aşınma Davranışlarının Karşılaştırılması

“…UHMWPE ve CRGO/UHMWPE kompozitin XRD difraktogramları Şekil 2'de verilmiştir. Şekil 2' de görüldüğü gibi UHMWPE' nin orthorombik yapısını yansıtan 2θ°=21,5 derecede (110) ve 2θ°=23,8 derecede (200) düzlemlerine ait pikler saf polimer için belirlenmiştir [6]. Ağırlıkça %0,5 CRGO içeren kompozit örneğinin ise hemen hemen aynı derece ve düzlemlerde görülen piklerin şiddetinin büyük ölçüde azaldığı görülmüştür.…”