Investigating the water lubrication characteristics of sisal fiber reinforced ultrahigh‐molecular‐weight polyethylene material

Abstract

The ultrahigh-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) has become the most widely used material for water-lubricated bearings. In the research, the effects of introducing sisal fiber (SF) filler materials on the friction and wear characteristics of UHMWPE-based composites were investigated. The composites were tested against the QSn7-0.2 copper disc, under water-lubricated conditions, using a specially designed testing apparatus. The purpose was to identify an improved material which could be used in water-lubricated bearings. Four types of composites were tested under different sliding velocities and applied loads, which included pure UHMWPE and 10, 20, and 30 wt% SF reinforced UHMWPE. The friction coefficient and wear amount were measured to characterize the tribological properties of these composite materials. Moreover, in order to reveal the primary mechanism involved in friction and wear, various surface characterization techniques were adopted on the surface of composite materials. The analysis results showed that the addition of SF can stabilize the frictional properties and increase the water absorption of SF/UHMWPE composites. Furthermore, the use of a proper percentage of SF can discharge the wear debris, improve the loading capacity, and reduce adhesion wear. The adding of 10% SF in UHMWPE had produced the best anti-friction properties at low speed and heavy load. This work can serve as a reference for the design of hydrophilic fiber reinforced polymer composites to reduce wear and improve lubrication performance.

Review of the evolution and prevention of friction, wear, and noise for water-lubricated bearings used in ships

“…Figure 10(a) is the direct blending modification with a different mechanism. The ① is the utilization of micro-convexity and rolling formed by particles [164,168,169]; the ② is by reducing the material hardness and increasing the load bearing area [170]; the ③ is the weakening of deformation and sticking [80,[171][172][173]; and the ④ is the promotion of water-film formation by the hydrophilic/absorbent nature of the materials [174][175][176][177]. But it may be difficult for direct blending to achieve an ideal lubrication effect due to the material compatibility limitation.…”

“…Fiber materials used commonly are carbon fiber (CF), carbon nanofiber (CNF) or carbon nanotube (CNT), and glass fiber (GF). The wearresistant modifications by fibers [79,80,165,175,176,[214][215][216][217] and solid particles [164,168,171,172,218] are shown in Fig. 13, and some blending modifications [164,165,168,171,172,175,176] can simultaneously achieve the purpose of improving the friction reduction and wear resistance of the material.…”

Preparation, characterization, and feasibility study of Sr/Zn-doped CPP/GNS/UHMWPE composites as an artificial joint component with enhanced hardness, impact strength, tribological and biological performance

“…The main reason for this phenomenon was that the initial contacts between samples and counterparts were established on their rough and hard surfaces. 34,35 During the friction process, the COF gradually increased to a certain value and was maintained. This phenomenon was due to the fact that the area of the contact surface became larger with the friction process.…”

Tribological Behavior of Cotton Fabric/Phenolic Resin Laminated Composites Reinforced with Two-Dimensional Materials

“…Oil-lubricated stern bearings have the risk of oil leakage and combustion in the process of use and are prone to wear and damage due to dry friction when the oil is cut off [1]. With growing environmental awareness and stricter pollution standards, people are urged to research and develop new bearing systems that are pollution-free, wear-resistant, efficient, energy-saving, long-lasting, and so on [2][3][4].…”