Abrasive wear behavior of particle reinforced ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene composites

This paper, based on orthogonal experimental design method, reports the res ults of abrasive wear investigations of various composites of ultrahigh mol ecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) reinforced with quartz powder rubbed ag ainst abrasive papers under dry conditions. The main purpose was to study t he influence of such parameters such as filler particle size, load, sliding speed and abrading particle size on the abrasive wear performance of UHMWP E matrix composites. Statistical analysis was carried out to develop an equ ation in which the wear volume of the specimen was expressed in terms of lo ad, abrading particle size, sliding speed, and their interactions. It was o bserved that wear rate was lower for reinforced composites than for the unf illed polymer. Load is the most important factor in the wear of unfilled UH MWPE specimens. However, for the wear of filler reinforced UHMWPE composite s, the role of the load abates and the role of abrasive particle size incre ases with the increase in filler particle size. The main controlling parame ter shifted from load to abrasive particle size when the filler size shifte d from 0.18 to 0.35 mm in composites. Sliding speed seems to have little ef fect on the total wear volume. Worn surfaces were studied using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) to give an insight into the wear mechanisms. The results show that the hardness and plowing resistance increased with the ad dition of hard powder, which leads to an enhancement of abrasive resistance . (C) 1999 Published by Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.