The roles of rigid particles on the friction and wear behavior of short carbon fiber reinforced PBT hybrid materials in the absence of solid lubricants

Polymeric materials filled with micro-sized short carbon fiber (SCF) and various internal lubricants, i.e. graphite and PTFE etc., have been proved as a beneficial tribomaterial formulation in contact with a steel counterbody. The SCFs carry the most load applied on the tribosystem, while the internal lubricants improve the friction behavior of the polymer matrix. In the present study, the roles of rigid particles on the friction and wear performance of SCF filled Polybutylenterephthalate (PBT) with and without graphite were investigated by using a pin-on-disc (PoD) tribometer under dry sliding condition. The experimental results show that the tribocomposite filled with nanoparticles without graphite particles presents outstanding friction and wear performance especially under moderate and severe load conditions in combination with superior mechanical properties compared with graphite-filled tribocomposite. The friction coefficient and wear rate under a pv-condition of 3 MPa and 2 m/s are 0.18 and 0.8*10−6 mm3/Nm, respectively. Based-on the optical analysis of the worn surfaces of the polymer samples and the transfer layers formed on the steel disc, the possible friction and wear mechanisms were discussed.