The effect of thermal conductivity and friction coefficient on the contact temperature of polyimide composites: Experimental and finite element simulation

In this work, the Finite Element Method is used to simulate and visualize the maximum contact temperature of polymer composites under ring-on-block tribolgical test. The simulated temperatures are in good agreement with the experimental results under all testing conditions. The error values between the experimental and simulated temperature are less than 10%. The contact temperature is decreased to nearly 72 °C just by reduction of the friction coefficient by 40%, which is about 18 times higher than the 40% increase of thermal conductivity. The results indicate that the friction coefficient plays a more important role in the contact temperature than the thermal conductivity.

► A two-dimensional FE model is used to study temperature distributions during sliding.
► Simulated temperatures are in good agreement with experimental results.
► The contact temperature is more dependent on the friction coefficient.
► Temperature difference of lowest thermal conductivity PI composites is the highest.