THE TRANSFER AND WEAR OF NYLON AND CUS-NYLON COMPOSITES - FILLER PROPORTION AND COUNTERFACE CHARACTERISTICS

This work was done as a follow-up of an earlier study which showed tha t CuS as the filler in nylon was very effective in reducing the wear o f nylon. The aspects investigated were the variation of wear with the filler proportion in CuS-nylon composite and the wear of nylon and its composite with counterface surface roughness and materials. It was fo und that 35 vol.% CuS as the filler was most effective in reducing the wear of nylon. The wear rate of unfilled nylon increased with the inc rease in surface roughness R(a) from 0.04 to 0.3 mum but that of the c omposite did not change with the increase in R(a) from 0.04 to 0.11 mu m. The wear rates of both the unfilled and filled nylons were consider ably higher for sliding against glass counterfaces than against tool s teel disks. The differences in wear rates with the counterface roughne ss and materials are examined in terms of the transfer film characteri stics. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) studies revealed the pre sence of Cu in the transfer film of CuS-nylon composite, thereby indic ating the decomposition of CuS during sliding conditions. This decompo sition played a role in bonding between the composite transfer film an d counterface materials.