Tribological properties of PTFE fiber filled polyoxymethylene composites: The influence of fiber orientation

Inspired by the structure of traditional Chinese bamboo rafts, the influence of orientation of solid fiber lubricants on the tribological properties of self-lubricating polymers was systematically investigated. Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) fibers were adopted as solid lubricants to improve the tribological properties of polyoxymethylene (POM) composites. Results indicated that the tribological behavior of POM was greatly improved with the presence of PTFE fibers. Both the friction coefficient and specific wear rate decreased with increasing content of PTFE fibers. Moreover, the orientation of PTFE fibers is beneficial to the reduction of both the friction coefficient and specific wear rate, which is attributed to the ease formation of transfer film on the countersurface of rolling steels.