An energy-based model for the wear of UHMWPE

An energetic approach to model the wear of tribological systems in which one of the components of the pair is polymeric is presented in this work. Experimental data, obtained in ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) pin-on-disk tribological tests, showed that a linear correlation between the wear rate of the polymer and the dissipated energy exists, independently of the lubricant, of the material used as counterbody and of the surface finishing of both polymer and counterbody. This fact strongly suggests that, in UHMWPE-based tribological systems, energy dissipation is mainly caused by the elasto-plastic deformation and wear of the polymer. Based on this assumption, it is developed a mathematical model that yields for a physical interpretation of the parameters of the experimental wear vs. energy correlation. These parameters are intrinsic wear properties of the polymer and can be used for the optimization of polymer-based tribological systems.