The tribological properties of porous cotton/phenolic bearing retainer on different surfaces

Abstract

Porous cotton/phenolic resin has been widely made into bearing retainer because of its excellent good dimensional stability and self-lubricating functions. In this paper, the frictional anisotropy of porous cotton/phenolic bearing retainer on different surfaces were studied using a friction and wear testing machine. Results showed that the friction coefficient on the guiding surface of the retainer was higher than that on the ending surface. However, wear volumes on the guiding surface was lower than that on the ending surface. For the ending surface, the wear volumes in the direction perpendicular to cotton fiber were higher than that parallel to cotton fiber. Based on the experiments, a wear model was proposed to illustrate the frictional anisotropy of the retainer. Analysis indicated that the wear rate was inversely proportional to the square of elastic modulus. The ratio of wear rate obtained from the model was in good agreement with the experimental results. The findings can be used to explain the wear difference of the retainer on different surfaces during operation. Besides, the model has potential applications in the design of bearing composite materials to improve its anti-wear behaviors.