Role of crystallinity on wear behavior of PTFE composites

• Crystallinity has an important role in the wear behaviour of PTFE composites.
• Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) analysis is a useful tool for studying semi crystalline polymers.
• Contact temperature along the test, work done by the friction force and thermal behaviour of the PTFE composites play an important role.

Tribological behavior of PTFE composites is well known to be affected by factors depending mainly by matrix and filler properties. However, the mechanism taking place has not still been fully explained. In this work, the attention was focused on the variation of crystallinity due to the presence of fillers and it was connected with the transition phases to which the PTFE is subjected. In particular, a simplified frictional heating calculation method was used for estimating the maximum contact temperature and results were connected with differential scanning calorimetry analyses (DSCs).