Sliding wear performance of HD-PE reinforced by continuous UHMWPE fibres

This paper deals with the wear and creep resistance of a new composite material consisting of high density polyethylene (HD-PE) reinforced by continuous ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) fibres. Unidirectional PE/PE laminates with fibre contents between 0% and 50% by volume were produced via hot pressing of HD-PE powder impregnated UHMWPE fibres. Flat specimens were tested in a ball-on-prism tribometer with polished steel balls. The penetration of the steel balls into the composite specimen was measured continuously. Creep deformation and material removal by wear were separated. The results were compared with the neat UHMWPE (good wear resistance but poor creep resistance and mechanical properties) and I-LD-PE (better creep resistance but poor wear resistance). The composites were found to combine the good wear resistance of UHMWPE with a superior creep resistance and mechanical properties. Further work is needed to improve the homogeneity of the composites in order to reduce the scatter of the wear results. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.