Effect of Load and Temperature on the Tribological Characteristics of a Steel Pin on Polyoxymethylene Disk Interface

Abstract

The static and dynamic friction properties of a steel pin on polyoxymethelyne homopolymer disk were studied at temperatures ranging from 22 to 160 °C. Samples were tested at externally applied normal loads ranging from 20 to 80 N. Under this range of temperatures, the friction coefficients displayed a linearly increasing dependence on the load. The load dependence is attributed to an enhanced contribution of the plowing friction mechanism at higher loads. As load increases, the pin asperities penetrate into the hard, injection mold-induced skin layer, causing an increase in the frictional plowing. The coefficient of friction was observed to decrease from 0.08 at 22 °C to 0.05 at 50 °C, and subsequently rise to 0.07 at 160 °C. The initial drop was caused by a decrease in the modulus of elasticity attributed to the rise in molecular mobility with increased available thermal energy. As the temperature increased to 160 °C, however, the further decrease in modulus allowed the penetration of the pin asperities to increase significantly, requiring increased material displacement to initiate frictional motion.