Friction and wear behaviours of self-lubricating peek composites for articulating pin joints

With the rapid development of engineering materials, self-lubricating and high strength composites have become a high demand candidate material for pin joints due to their significant potential in downsizing and weight saving. In this study, bearing bushes made from unfilled polyetheretherketone (PEEK) and PEEK composites were investigated for their tribological performance through two sets of experiments, (i) ball-on-disc dry sliding on CETR UMT, and (ii) pin/bush contact on a purpose built pin joint test rig. Continuous rotation and oscillation of shaft were performed with the pin/bush contact configuration. The contact pressure between the bush and shaft ranged from 20 MPa to 140 MPa and articulation speed from 10 deg/s to 60 deg/s. Wear mechanism was investigated through microscopic observation.