Tribological properties of hybrid PTFE/Kevlar fabric composite in vacuum

The dry sliding tribological properties of hybrid PTFE/Kevlar fabric composite were investigated under ambient and different vacuums, loads, sliding velocities, and temperatures. The results showed that hybrid PTFE/Kevlar fabric composite displayed lower friction coefficient in vacuum than that in ambient and satisfactory antiwear performance in low vacuum and middle vacuum, but poor antiwear performance in high vacuum. In vacuum, the friction coefficient and wear rates decrease with the increasing of sliding velocities, loads and temperature within a certain range. But the higher temperature of 60 °C detriments the friction coefficient and wear rate. Textile structure also has an obvious influence on the antiwear performance. The main wear mechanism in vacuum including plastic deformation, micro-cutting, fatigue damage and abrasive wear.