Hard problems with soft materials: Wear of semicristaline polymeric solids.

SEBASTIÁN LAINO; RICARDO C. DOMMARCO; JEREMIAS DE BONA; VALERIA PETTARIN; PATRICIA FRONTINI

Mar del Plata

Encuentro; 3er Encuentro Nacional de Materia Blanda; 2010

Polymer composites have been very successful in finding many engineering applications as tribological materials for gears, bearing cage, shoe soles, automotive brakes and so on. Presently, polymers are used as bulk or as films for various applications where surface friction and wear are important design requirements. Wear is defined as the removal of materials from solid surfaces as a result of mechanical action. Much of the knowledge on the tribological behavior of polymeric materials is empirical and very limited predictive capability currently exists. Since wear is a result of the accumulation of plastic deformation and hardness is the measure of a material's ability to combat plastic deformation, the relationship between wear and hardness has been extensively studied.