THE ACTION OF FILLERS IN THE MODIFICATION OF THE TRIBOLOGICAL BEHAVIOR OF POLYMERS

This paper discusses the role of fillers such as solid lubricants, pure metals and inorganic compounds in modifying the tribological behavior of polymers. It examines critically the mechanisms and hypotheses proposed by a number of workers for wear reduction. This is done from the overall perspective of the data published in the literature as well as the recent work done by the authors on the subject. Some of the hypotheses have been negated while some are supported with discretion. The critical filler volume model is discussed and the filler volume for minimum wear is shown to agree with that calculated by the model. Some guidelines for the selection of fillers and their proportion for minimum wear rate are provided and the areas of research needing further attention are indicated.