Fretting wear behaviors of nanometer Al2O3 and SiO2 reinforced PEEK composites

The influence of diameter and content of Al2O3 particles on the tribological behaviors under fretting wear mode was investigated. The surface of PEEK composite and steel ball were examined by SEM and EDS, to identify the topography of wear scar and analyze the distribution of chemical elements in the friction counterparts, respectively. It can be found that the filling of Al2O3 powder improves the fretting wear resistance of PEEK composite. With the increase of Al2O3 diameter, the area of wear scar on specimen increases first and decreases afterward. However, the wear of composites increases monotonically with increasing Al2O3 content. Although the filling of 10 wt.% and 200 nm PTFE powder in PEEK makes the lowest wear of all specimens, no synergistic effect was found when Al2O3 and PTFE were filled into PEEK composite together. For the friction pair of PEEK composite and steel ball, abrasive wear and adhesive wear dominate the fretting wear mechanism during fretting. Thermal effect plays a very important role during fretting; thus the property of temperature resistance for polymer material would affect the wear degree on the surface of wear scar.