Design of a wear tester for nano-reinforced polymer composites

A simple, relatively inexpensive, and reliable new wear tester was developed to obtain preliminary wear characterization of nano-reinforced polymer composites samples. In order to make the tests reliable and repeatable, this new device was implemented with a piezoelectric force transducer, tachometer, controller for the frequency of oscillation of the wear probe, and controller for the temperature of the lubricant. Wear testers are important to characterize material wear properties at the molecular level to perform research in areas such as artificial joint implants in both total and partial knee and hip arthroplasty and other nanotechnology applications. Wear testers have to simulate the environment, range of motion, and loads under which the material being tested operates in actual working conditions. The new wear tester could be used to identify materials that exhibit improved wear resistance. Preliminary results showed that the magnitude of the wear decreased as the carbon-fiber volume fraction increased in high density polyethylene composites.