Tribological performances of fabric self-lubricating liner with different weft densities under severe working conditions

Abstract

Several woven fabric self-lubricating liners with weft densities of 200-450 root/10cm in a spacing of 50 root/10cm have been prepared to investigate the tribological performances of the liner under severe working conditions, such as low velocity and heavy load (110, 179 and 248 MPa) and high velocity and light load (9, 18 and 27 m/min) by utilizing the self-lubricating liner performance assessment tester, and MMU-5G friction and wear tester respectively. The worn surface is characterized using confocal laser scanning microscopy. The tribological results show that the fabric self-lubricating liners with different weft densities share almost the same tribological property variation tendency. Fabric tightness affects the wear rate and the stability of wear resistance of liners under severe working conditions. The overall level of friction coefficient and the wear rate of liners with different weft densities are influenced by the cold flow degree of the polymer. In addition, proper weft density improves the tribological properties of liner and a preferred weft density for the liner under severe working conditions is found to be 300-350 root/10cm.