Preparation and tribological properties of PI oil-bearing material with controllable pore size

Purpose - The content of pore-foaming agent directly affects pore characteristics and oil-absorption properties of polyimide ( PI) porous materials, which further influence the tribological performance of PI pore material. This research paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach - Thermal vacuum molding technology was adopted to prepare PI porous material with different structures by changing the content of the pore-forming agent to control pore size and porosity of the PI material. PI oil-bearing materials were obtained by vacuum oil immersion. The tribological experiments of PI oil-bearing materials were conducted on the CETR friction and wear testing machine. Findings - The study results showed that PI porous material with a specific structure can be obtained by controlling the content of a pore-forming agent. In a certain range, with the increase in the content of the pore-forming agent, the average pore size and porosity increased, also the oil content increased, which means that the friction coefficient and wear rate decreased to a very large extent, and antifriction and wear resistant properties of the PI porous materials greatly improved. When the content of the pore-forming agent exceeds 8 per cent, the wear rate and friction coefficient of the PI porous materials began to increase. Originality/value - Because the complexity of the tribological system consists of lubricating oil, porous material and friction pair, the physical understanding of the mechanism of this process remains limited. Therefore, the present research was undertaken to identify the phenomena involved, which will provide practical guidance for the tribological application in the field of bearing parts.