Methods of Decreasing Wear in Metal-Polymer Contacts

In metal-polymer contacts, wear can be decreased either by developing materials which have the required frictional properties before rubbing, or by additives which revise the material surface properties during sliding. Two methods of each type are described. Several polymers were prepared by solidification against other solids which produced special surface structures. Other specimens were prepared by irradiation to change the structure of the polymer. In other experiments, two kinds of additives were incorporated into the surface layers of the polymer. The one is a complex compound which decomposes during sliding and alters the frictional properties. The other is an additive which influenced the transfer by a ‘selective’ mechanism. All of these methods widen the safe range of load and speed for the polymers. In the development of polymeric materials for improving friction and wear behavior, a polymer may be specially prepared before use, or may incorporate additives which alter the surfaces during sliding. Two modifications of polymers of each type are described below and follow upon preliminary work on these products [1–5].