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Procedia Engineering 36 (2012) 285 – 291

IUMRS-ICA 2011

Research on Friction and Wear Behaviors of PEEK/PEI/PES

Plastics Alloys under Sliding Contact Condition
Jianbing Chen1,2, Qiang Guo1,*, Sigang Zhang1, Xiaoming Wang3, Xianli Shao1
1
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai 201800, China
2
Department of Chemistry and Food Science, Chizhou College, Chizhou 247000, China
3
Shanghai Electric Cable Research Institute, Shanghai 200093, China

Abstract

The plastic alloys of PEEK/PEI/PES were prepared with extrusion molding at 370ć in ratios of 70/30/0, 70/25/5,
65/30/5, 60/30/10, 60/35/5 (w/w). Friction and wear behaviors of the alloys were investigated under dry sliding
contact condition. And wear resistances of PEEK/PEI/PES alloys were considerably improved than pure PEI and PES.
The friction coefficients of the alloys were higher than the pure PEEK for 0.2-0.3. The specific wear rates of the pure
PEI or PES were 4-6 times as large as the specific wear rate for the alloys of PEEK/PEI/PES, and the specific wear
rate for the alloys of PEEK/PEI/PES is 7~9 times as large as the specific wear rate of the pure PEEK. The plastics
alloys would produce the transferred film containing PEEK on the steel counterface. However, the transferred film of
pure PES or PEI was not found on the steel ring surface. A thin symmetrical and tough transferred film in the worn
steel surface against the alloy specimens could reduce friction and wear.

© 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of MRS-Taiwan
Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.
Keywords: Plastic alloys; poly (ether ether ketone) (PEEK); poly (ether imide) (PEI); poly (aryl ether sulfone) (PES); wear

Nomenclature
µ friction coefficient Ws specific wear rate
M average friction moment Vs volume of wear scar
F vertical load L sliding distance
r diameter of steel ring B width of wear scar

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +0086-21-69982791 or 13856651860; Fax: +0086-21-69982840.

E-mail address: [email protected]

1877-7058 © 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.
doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2012.03.042
286 Jianbing Chen et al. / Procedia Engineering 36 (2012) 285 – 291

1. Introduction

PEEK is a kind of engineering plastic with outstanding performance: high mechanical properties
(strength, modulus, toughness, resistance to creep, abrasion and fatigue), high temperature resistance
(Tg=143°C, Tm=338°C, continuous service temperature of 250°C, heat distortion temperature often
above 300ć), good resistance to aggressive solvent, favorable processing capability, high wear resistance
and self-lubrication etc. So far PEEK is a very favorable matrix material used for solid lubricant
composites and quite a lot of works about the tribological behavior of PEEK and its composites have
published before [1]. Poly(ether imide) (PEI) is referred to as a high performance engineering
thermoplastic material in that it displays good strength, high modulus and a high glass transition
temperature. PEI also demonstrates good electrical properties and remains stable over a wide range of
temperatures and frequencies. It is amorphous and when unmodified it is transparent and exhibits Inherent
flame resistance and low smoke evolution. It also exhibits strong relaxations in the glass transition region,
which is important for comparing dynamic mechanical and dielectric behavior [2]. PEI is less expensive
usually but it has become more versatile and is widely used as an amorphous thermoplastic. PES is
another high performance engineering polymer that is amorphous in nature. It exhibits a high glass-
transition temperature (Tg=220°C), is mechanically tough and rigid, but has a poor resistance to organic
solvents [3].
The wear behavior of the composites had been studied in many literatures. But many reports about
wear behavior of the composites are inorganic materials to modify the PEEK, or resins modify the PEEK.
However, it is two components alloys that resins modify the PEEK, such as B. Nandan [3, 4] Less report
emphasized on the three components alloys about PEEK, PEI and PES. Therefore the variations of wear
behaviors and mechanism of alloys with the different content of PEEK,PEI and PES under wear mode are
all investigated in this paper, In addition, as a comparison, the friction and wear properties of pure PEEK,
PEI, or PES were also evaluated under identical test conditions.

2. Experimental

2.1. Preparation of polymer specimens

PEEK and PES powder of 250 µm in diameter is supplied by Changchun Jilin University Super
Engineering Plastics Research Co., Ltd. PEI powder of Ultem1000 is supplied by SABIC Co., Ltd. PEEK,
PEI and PES were blended in ratios of 100/0/0, 70/30/0, 70/25/5, 65/30/5, 60/30/10, 60/35/5, 0/100/0, and
0/0/100 (w/w) respectively. In the codes of the alloy specimens, PEEK is shown by “K”, PEI by “I” and
PES by “S”, which the quotient number of this plastic follows, e.g. K100-I0-S0 means the pure PEEK,
K70-I25-S5 means PEEK:PEI:PES = 70:25:5 (w/w).
Firstly, the extrusion molding and molding pressing parameters were determined through multiple
optimization experiments. The particles and sheets of PEEK/PEI/PES alloys were prepared with extrusion
molding, and the plates of PEEK/PEI/PES alloys were prepared with molding pressing successfully.
Extrusion molding parameters: the extruder sections temperature for 310~370°C, screw speed
10~30r/min, head pressure 9~11 MPa. Molding pressing parameters: molding temperature for 370°C, at
350~370°C molding pressure for 5 MPa, at 275ć~350°C molding pressure for 10 MPa. Secondly, the
specimens tested were made of the width of 7mm and length of 30 mm polishing.
 Jianbing Chen et al. / Procedia Engineering 36 (2012) 285 – 291 287

2.2 Friction and wear test

The experimental apparatus for wear is outlined in Fig. 1; the sliding friction wear device is M2000A
made by Zhangjiakou Xuanhua Kehua Tester Co., Ltd. The hardness were tested by TQY-I plastic ball
indentation hardness supplied by Jilin Taihe Tester Co., Ltd. The steel rings of the sliding friction wear
device were made of 30CrMnSiA which the surface hardness is HRC50-55. Experiments were conducted
with no lubricant in laboratory air at room temperature and relative humidity of about 50±10%. The
specimens that the bottom materials is tin a block with dimensions of 30mm×7mm×4mm, the test load is
200 N, the rev is 200 r/min, the cycle is 120 min, but the cycle of pure PEI or PES is for 20 min. The scar
areas on the specimen, respectively, can be observed by the JC-10 optical microscope with micro scale
supplied by Shanghai Fifth Optical Co., Ltd.

Fig. 1 Sliding friction wear device.

Dynamic curves of friction were calculated using Eq. 1

P M /( r ˜ F ) (1)
The specific wear rate was calculated using Eq. 2 and the volume of wear scar was calculated in cubic
millimeters as was given in Eq. 3 [5].
Ws Vs L ˜ F (2)
Vs 7 ˜ [(S r 2 180) ˜ arcsin( B 2r )  B 4r 2  B 2 4] (3)
For each experimental condition, three identical tests were performed and the average results were
reported. The widths and topography of wear scar were examined using reading microscope.

3. Results and Discussion

3.1 Variations of friction coefficient with time

Figure 2(a) shows that the friction coefficient for the pure PEEK go up rapidly after 60 min, the
friction coefficient reach the balance value about 0.5 after the time at which the maximum friction
coefficient occurs, but the coefficient for all these alloys of PEEK/PEI/PES go up rapidly at the beginning,
the maximum friction coefficient occurs after 40mins, subsequently, the friction coefficient of alloys
reach the balance value about 0.7~0.8, which are higher than that of pure PEEK, as shown in Fig. 2(b) (c)
(d) (e) (f). With the wear of alloys of PEEK/PEI/PES at the beginning of friction, the contacting area of
the friction pairs becomes larger and larger, and adhesion becomes more and more serious. This also may
be inferred by the fact that the friction coefficient was influenced by rising temperatures [6, 7], so the
friction coefficient for all alloys of PEEK/PEI/PES go up rapidly at the beginning. When the temperature
of the contacting area of the friction pairs reaches the balance value, the friction coefficient also reaches
288 Jianbing Chen et al. / Procedia Engineering 36 (2012) 285 – 291

the balance value. As for the pure PEEK, it may be inferred that the contacting area of the friction pairs is
more small and adhesion is not serious, the friction coefficient keeps at a lower value up to 60 min, but
the contacting area of the friction pairs becomes larger and larger, and adhesion becomes more and more
serious after 60 min, then reach a balance value in the end.
1.0
1.0 1.1
1.0
0.8
0.8 0.9
Friction coefficient

Friction coefficient

Friction coefficient
0.6 0.8
0.6 0.7
0.4 0.6
0.4
0.5
0.2 0.2 0.4
0.3
0.0 0.0 0.2
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Time /min Time /min Time /min

(a) (b) (c)

1.2 1.1
1.0
1.0
1.0 0.9
0.9
Friction coefficient

Friction coefficient

Friction coefficient
0.8 0.8
0.8 0.7 0.7
0.6 0.6
0.6
0.5 0.5
0.4 0.4 0.4
0.3 0.3
0.2 0.2 0.2
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Time /min Time /min Time /min
(d) (e) (f)

Fig. 2 Variations of friction coefficient with time for the PEEK/PEI/PES alloys: (a) K100-I0-S0, (b) K70-I30-S0, (c) K70-I25-S5, (d)
K65-I30-S5, (e) K60-I30-S10, (f) K60-I35-S5.

3.2 Specific wear rate and hardness

Figure 3(a) is the variations of specific wear rate for the alloys of PEEK/PEI/PES with the content of
PEI when the content of PES is 5%. Figure 3(a) shows that, with the increasing of the content of PEI, the
specific wear rate for the alloys of PEEK/PEI/PES increase continuously when the content of PES is 5%.
Fig. 3(b) is the variations of specific wear rate for the alloys of PEEK/PEI/PES with the content of PES
when the content of PEI is 30%. Figure 3(b) shows that the specific wear rate for the alloys of
PEEK/PEI/PES also increases continuously with the increasing of the content of PES when the content of
PEI is 30%.
7
5.7
6
5.6
Ws/( 10-5mm3/Nm

Ws/( 10-5mm3/Nm

5
5.5
4
5.4
3
5.3
2
5.2
1
5.1
0
25 30 35 0 5 10

Content of PEI (%) Content of PES (%)

(a) (b)

Fig. 3 Variations of alloys’ specific wear rate with the content of PEI or PES: (a) PES=5 %( wt %); (b) PEI=30 %( wt %).
 Jianbing Chen et al. / Procedia Engineering 36 (2012) 285 – 291 289

Figure 4(a) is the variations of hardness for the alloys of PEEK/PEI/PES with the content of PEI when
the content of PES is 5%; Fig. 4(a) shows that, with the increasing of the content of PEI, the hardness for
the alloys of PEEK/PEI/PES reduces continuously when the content of PES is 5%. Figure 4(b) is the
variations of hardness for the alloys of PEEK/PEI/PES with the content of PES when the content of PEI is
30%. Figure 4(b) shows that, with the increasing of the content of PES, the hardness for the alloys of
PEEK/PEI/PES also reduces continuously when the content of PES is 30%. This may be inferred by the
fact that the hardness influence the specific wear rate to a certain extent, the relations between the specific
wear rate and the hardness will be further investigated in the near future.
260
300 K70-I30-S0
K70-I25-S5
Ball indentation hardness (N/mm2)

Ball indentation hardness (N/mm2)

240 280

220 260

240
200 K65-I30-S5
220

180 K65-I30-S5
200

160 180

K60-I35-S5 160 K60-I30-S10

140
25 30 35 0 5 10
Content of PEI (%) Content of PES (%)

(a) (b)

Fig. 4 Variations of alloys hardness with the content of PEI or PES: (a) PES (w) =5%; (b) PEI (w) =30%.

Table 1 shows that the specific wear rate of the pure PEI or PES are 4-6 times as large as the specific
wear rate for the alloys of PEEK/PEI/PES, and the specific wear rate for these alloys is 7-9 times as large
as the specific wear rate of the pure PEEK, so we think that the specific wear rate for the alloys of
PEEK/PEI/PES are improved more considerably than the specific wear rate of the pure PEI or PES.

Table 1 Specific wear rate for the alloys of PEEK/PEI/PES.

Specimen code Specific wear rate (Ws) (10-5mm3/Nm)

K100-I0-S0 0.7005
K70-I30-S0 5.1334
K70-I25-S5 5.2463
K65-I30-S5 5.3518
K60-I30-S10 6.4279
K60-I35-S5 5.6989
K0-I100-S0 24.9924
K0-I0-S100 31.2548

Notes: (a) K0-I100-S0 or K0-I0-S100 were worn for 20min due to a great wear amount of the two plastics; (b) the other alloys were
worn for 120min.

3.3 Analysis on the worn surfaces

Figure 5(a) shows that the worn surface had a larger area to break off, and produced some striations
under the stress of steel ring surface, and wear mechanism should be mainly wear of adhesion. Figure 5 (b)
(d) (e) (f) shows that the topography of the worn surface of the alloys of PEEK/ PEI/PES has several deep
290 Jianbing Chen et al. / Procedia Engineering 36 (2012) 285 – 291

furrows, and has some striations, and it can be inferred that there should be wear of adhesion and formʳ
furrows.

(a) (b) (c)

(d) (e) (f)

Fig. 5 Micrographs of the worn surfaces of the PEEK/PEI/PES alloys: (a) K100-I0-S0, (b) K70-I30-S0, (c) K70-I25-S5, (d) K65-
I30-S5, (e) K60-I30-S10, (f) K60-I35-S5.

Figure 6 (a) shows that a thin symmetrical and tough transferred film on the worn surface of the steel
ring, but thicker transferred films can be seen in Fig. 6 (b) (c) (d), which would break off easily, and some
nicks could also be observed in Fig. 6 (b) (c) (d). However, a transferred film is not observed in Fig. 6(e)
and (f). It may be inferred that forming the transferred film is including the PEEK.

(a) (b) (c)

(d) (e) (f)

Fig. 6 Micrographs of the worn surfaces on the steel ring sliding against the PEEK/PEI/PES alloys specimens: (a) K100-I0-S0, (b)
K70-I25-S5, (c) K65-I30-S5, (d) K60-I30-S10, (e) K0-I100-S0, (f) K0-I0-S100.
 Jianbing Chen et al. / Procedia Engineering 36 (2012) 285 – 291 291

Forming the transferred film could avail reducing wear [8]. Therefore this may be explained by that
the specific wear rate for the PEEK/PEI/PES alloys is smaller than that of pure PEI or pure PES to a
certain extent.

4. Conclusions

(1) The friction coefficient of alloys of PEEK/PEI/PES is about 0.7~0.8, the friction coefficient of neat
PEEK is about 0.5, but the friction coefficient for all alloys of PEEK/PEI/PES go up rapidly at
the beginning, the maximum friction coefficient occurs after 40mins, and the friction coefficient of alloys
is higher than the friction coefficient of the neat PEEK for 0.2~0.3.
(2) The specific wear rate of the neat PEI or PES is 4~6 times as large as the specific wear rate for the
alloys of PEEK/PEI/PES. Especially, the neat PEI or PES can be worn out after 20 min, but the alloys
were worn for 120 min in the testing. So the specific wear rate for the alloys of PEEK/PEI/PES are more
improved considerably than the specific wear rate of the neat PEI or PES.
(3) The alloys including PEEK all form transferred films in the surface of steel ring, but the neat PEI
or PES have no any transferred film in the surface of steel ring, it is important for the alloys to have the
lower specific wear rate than the neat PEI or PES. Moreover, the wear mechanism should be mainly wear
of adhesion and furrow.

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 50975167) and
Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China (Grant No. 20113108110015) for
supporting of this research.

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