Abstract
Abrasive wear is a common failure phenomenon that often limits the service life of sealing elements. Evaluation and comparison of the abrasion resistance of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) were conducted using Al2O3 particles with sizes in the range 5 to 200 µm on a pin-on-flat tribo-tester under dry reciprocating sliding conditions at room temperature. Based on the examined worn surface characteristics of both PTFE and 316L stainless steel (as a counterpart) and the analyzed coefficient of friction (COF) evolutions, the wear mechanism and particle size effect have been explored in detail. The results demonstrate that the abrasive size is the main contributing factor, which can drastically impact the wear mechanism and tribological properties of tribo-pairs. The COF exhibits different evolution characteristics (trends) for different abrasive sizes. For moderate particle sizes, the COF trends become more complicated and the most evident wear of the metallic counterpart is evident. The activity behaviors of abrasives are dominated by the particle size. Particles can becomes embedded in one of the tribo-pair materials to plough-cut the counterpart, thus causing two-body abrasive wear. The abrasives can also behave as free rolling bodies, which play the role of third body to realize three-body “PTFE-abrasive-316L” abrasion. When abrasives are involved in the wear process, both the wear rate and COF of the metallic counterpart increase, but the material removal rate of the PTFE is reduced. The results obtained can offer guidelines regarding the design and protection of seals.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51775503 and 51875343), the Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province (No. LY17E050020), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Nos. 2017M620152 and 2018T110392), and Jiangxi Natural Science Foundation of China (20171BCD40009).
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Mingxue SHEN. He received his Ph.D. degree in 2012 from Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, China. After then, he was a post doctor in Shanghai Jiao Tong University. He is now working as a professor in the College of Materials Science & Engineering, East China Jiaotong University, Nanchang, China. His major interests are tribology properties, wear behaviors, and surface engineering.
Bo LI. He received his bachelor degree in 2018 from Heilongjiang University of Science and Technology, Harbin, China. After then, he was a master student in the College of Materials Science & Engineering, East China Jiaotong University, Nanchang, China. His research interests include polymer tribology and wear behaviors.
Zhinan ZHANG. He received his Ph.D. degree in 2011 from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China. After that, he was a post doctor in Shanghai Jiao Tong University. He is now working as an associate professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. His research interests include computational design and analysis of tribosystems, and theory and methods of design engineering and innovation.
Longzhi ZHAO. He received his Ph.D. degree in 2006 from Institute of metal research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, China. He is now working as a professor in the College of Materials Science & Engineering, East China Jiaotong University. His research interests are laser processing technology and surface engineering.
Guangyao XIONG. He received his bachelor degree in 1986 from Tianjin University, Tianjin, China. He is now working as a professor in the College of Materials Science & Engineering, East China Jiaotong University. His major interests are materials processing and surface engineering.
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Shen, M., Li, B., Zhang, Z. et al. Abrasive wear behavior of PTFE for seal applications under abrasive-atmosphere sliding condition. Friction 8, 755–767 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-019-0301-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-019-0301-7