BIO

Victoria grew up in Singapore and moved to Florida in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic to be closer to family. She is an undergrad pursuing a degree in chemical-materials engineering and hopes to either obtain her doctorate or masters in materials science. Her research interests are focused mainly in materials used in extreme environments.

Wear Rate & Friction Dependence on Contact Pressure for PTFE-PEEK Polymer Composites

Abstract

PTFE (Teflon) based polymers are often mixed with fillers such as PEEK (poly ether ether ketone) or metals, metal oxides and other materials to improve their wear rates and coefficients of friction. Many experiments have been conducted measuring the effect of different weight precents of filler materials, mainly PEEK, in PTFE; yet not many studies have looked at the effect varying normal load for different compositions has on the wear rates and friction coefficient. This research study looked at PTFE polymer composites with 40 wt% PEEK. After mixing, molding, sintering, and machining three pins of each composite polymer were tested at normal loads (force against the counter sample) of 50N, 150N, and 250N on a six-load-cell tribometer under humid conditions. The samples were massed after each test’s number of cycles had concluded until the full experiment had completed. The samples travelled a total sliding distance of 20 kilometers with a stroke length of 20mm one way. Results show that the polymer composites with 40 wt% peek performed better at higher normal loads with lower wear rates. Results show that the sample with a contact pressure of 250N has the lowest friction out of the three samples.

Keywords: Materials Science, PTFE, Polymers, PEEK