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Wear, 158

(1992) 1-13

Wet abrasion of polymers


S. W. Zhang
East China Petroleum

Institute, Dongying, P.O. Box 902, Shangdong

2010066,

Beijing (China)

Abstract
Mechanisms of wet abrasion for nitrile rubber (NBR), polytetralluoroethylene
(PTFE) and
fluoropolymer alloy (F50-1) have been investigated. Specimens were held against a rotating
steel disc. Both the specimen and the steel disc were immersed in an abrasive liquid of
the type used for oil-well drilling. The abraded surfaces of samples were examined using
scanning electron microscopy. It is concluded that wear occurs as a result of two different
mechanisms: a local microtearing process and a general microlayering or micropolishing
process. Wear rates of polymeric materials have been found to increase with increasing
sand content of media and with decreasing sliding speed. Mostly, these rates of wear also
increase with normal load. However, wear rates of F50-1 were found to be surprisingly
insensitive to normal load at 100 C.

1. Introduction
The wear process of the operating surface of a body induced by a fluid medium
containing abrasive particles between the interacting solid surfaces in relative motion
may be termed wet abrasion or hydroabrasive wear. It is closely analogous to abrasive
erosion. However, its leading feature is the abrasive fluid flowing between the interacting
solid surfaces under load contact. Unfortunately,
these two types of wear were mixed
up for a long time, with the result that not much attention was paid to the consideration
of wet abrasion as an independent
form of wear until now. Particularly, study of the
wear mechanisms of wet abrasion of polymers is almost a gap in tribology.
A number of polymeric tribocomponents
used in the petroleum
and mining
industries are operated in liquid media containing abrasive particles. It has been shown
that wet abrasion is usually the dominant wear mechanism resulting in earlier failure
of these components.
This work was specifically aimed at obtaining a preliminary understanding
of the
basic mechanisms of polymer wet abrasion based on investigations
of nitrile rubber
(NBR), polytetralluoroethylene
(PTFE) and fluoropolymer
alloy (F50-1).

2. Literature survey
Wet abrasion of polymers is a complex process which has not been extensively
studied. Hence knowledge of the basic mechanism has remained obscure, though some
relevant experimental
observations
have been presented.
Burr and Marshek [l] have developed an empirical equatiqn for the abrasion of
elastomeric O-ring materials. Wear experiments were conducted on an O-ring abrasive

Elsevier Sequoia

wear test machine [2]. Specimen cuts from a size number 330 O-ring, which is the
size used to seal a standard size rock bit bearing and has a normal inside diameter
of 54 mm and a cross-sectional
diameter of 4.76 mm, were held against a rotating
steel wear cylinder. Both the specimen and the cylinder were immersed in an abrasive
mud used for oil-well drilling. The equation obtained may be used to predict the
volume loss for varying conditions of the elastomers surface contact stress and time
if the wear constant is determined
by wear testing.
Simuiating the service conditions of a screw-liner pair in a Dynadrill (a downhole
drilling motor), an experimental
study of wear in rubber-steel
friction pairs with a
crescent-shaped
radial clearance in an abrasive liquid has been carried out [3]. With
a rubber-lined
cylinder against a steel cylinder in water containing abrasives and in
drilling mud respectively, experiments
were conducted
to determine
the effects of
dynamic load and its frequency, concentration
of abrasives and thickness of rubberlined layer on the wear characteristics
of the screw-liner pair. At a frequency ~=20
Hz and magnitude S= & 118 N cmP2 of dynamic load, a plot of wear rates of rubber
in an abrasive liquid containing
3% by volume of abrasives against dynamic load has
been obtained (Fig. 1). The wear rate of rubber is seen to increase with increasing
average dynamic load per unit area, in particular for p > 20 kPa. Concerning the wear
mechanism of rubber under the action of dynamic load, the wear processes resulting
from microcutting and microscratching
are seen to be dominant. Furthermore,
it has
been proven that the lifetime of rubber is related to its tensile strength and tear
strength.
In view of the short service life of the pumping parts in reciprocating mud pumps,
Lewis 14-71 has investigated the impact of design factors on the wear characteristics
of the pump cylinder liner, which incorporates
a piston with a replaceable
rubber
seal. A new piston has been developed on the basis of functional
analysis which
concentrated
on the wear problems associated with the replaceable seal.
The effect of various abrasive-containing
liquids on the wear resistance of the
rubber seal in the piston of a drilling pump has been studied [8]. It has been found
that the wear resistance of the rubber for all test media is inversely proportional
to
the load per unit area. This conclusion is much the same as that obtained in ref. 1.
Moreover, the wear mechanism is dependent on the load per unit area. It has been
shown that a change from abrasive wear to corrosion wear occurs at high load per
unit area (10 MPa or more). It is possible that hardly any abrasive particles enter

Fig. 1. Wear rate vs. average dynamic load per unit area, p, (A) in water-containing
and (B) in drilling mud (after ref. 3).

abrasives

the ebbing
surfaces under conditions of high contact load. The effect of selective
transfer on the tribaiogicaf characteristics of rubber-metal
frictional pairs in reciprocating
motion was also investigated in ref. 8. It was observed that the addition of a small
amount of cupric sulphate to the liquid considerably reduces the abrasive wear.
The effect of lubricating rubber samples with water on the abrasion rate was also
examined [9] using a blade abrader as described in ref. 10. It has been found that
the wear rate is dramatically reduced by at least a factor of ten, whereas the frictional
force decreases only by perhaps 10%. This result is apparently in conflict with earlier
theory for line contact abrasion under dry conditions [ill. Other lubricants such as
talc and silicone oils show a similar effect. This may be explained by a change in
deformation mode of the abrasion pattern under lubricated conditions [X2].
However, wet abrasion was not considered to be a specific type of wear in the
studies in question, though most of the experiments were conducted in abrasive liquid
media. In recent years a number of studies on wet abrasion of nitrile rubber,
poIytetr~uoroethyle~e
and ~uoropol~er
alloy have been carried out by the present
author and his colleagues. Some of the results wili be discussed below.

3. Experimeutal

details

The wear test machine is shown schematically


in Fig. 2 and has the following
capabilities:
(1) the normai load imposed on the specimen can be set up to 2 kN
with dead-weights; (2) the sliding speed on the frictional surface can be set at any
value between 0 and 10.7 m s-; (3) the frictional force can be recorded automatically;
(4) the duration can be controlled automatically;
(5) the test specimens can be run
in a container of abrasive mud or other liquid.
Two shapes of specimen, pin (6 mm outer diameter and 12 mm length) and ring
(66 mm outer diameter, 54 mm inner diameter and 8 mm thickness), were used, made
of NBR, FSO-1 and PTFE respectively. Fluoropolymer
alloy (F50-1) is a new polymeric

Fig. 2. Schematic

drawing of wear test machine.

material developed by Shangshi Institute of Organic Chemistry, Academia Sinica. It


has the excellent properties of fluoropolymer;
the main physical properties are listed
in Table 1.
The experimental
parameters for each test are given in Table 2.
Specimens were held against a rotating steel disc with a certain normal load.
Both the specimen and the steel disc were immersed in an abrasive liquid of the type
used for oil-well drilling.
The abraded surfaces of test samples were coated with gold and examined using
scanning electron microscopy (SEM).

TABLE

Main physical properties

of F50-1

Tensile strength (N cm-*)


room temperature
200 C
Compressive strength (N cm-)
Elongation (%)
room temperature
200 C
Compression creep (%)
room temperature
70 C
Hardness (Duro)
Melting point (C)
Specific gravity (g cme3)
Coefficient of friction
Flex fatigue life (cycles)
Water absorption (%)

3000
800
2600
400
500
1.36
3.13
D57-59
267-327
2.15-2.17
0.17-0.21
3x104
0.005

TABLE 2
Experimental

parameters

Test code no.

Nl

N2

Specimen
Shape
Number

NBR
Pin
1

NBR
Pin
2

PTFE
Ring
1

F50-1
Pin
2

Normal load L (N)

70-200

44-59

100-200

235-393

Sliding speed II

0.33

1.1-1.8

3.13-8.8

1.1-8.8

material

(m s-)
Sand content
(wt.%)

of medium

2.81
5.11

0.02
0.13

0.02
0.13

Temperature

(C)

26&3

25

25

100

4. Results and discussion


4.1. Morphological character of abraded surfaces
The abraded surface of the NRR samples was examined in detail; its basic
morphological
character was found to be a number of parallel tearing traces and a
microlayered (small, closely spaced flaps) surface texture (Fig. 3). As seen, the spacing
of tearing traces decreases with increasing sand content in the liquid under otherwise
identical conditions (Fig. 4) and the depth of traces increases with increasing normal
load (Fig. 5).

Fig. 3. Three-body
Nl).

wet abrasion

pattern

(sand content

2.81 wt.%, normal load 120 N) (code

Fig. 4. Three-body
Nl).

wet abrasion

pattern

(sand content

5.11 wt.%, normal load 120 N) (code

Fig. 5. Three-body
Nl).

Fig. 6. Two-body

wet abrasion

wet abrasion

pattern

pattern

(sand content

5.11 wt.%, normal load 180 N) (code

(normal load 120 N) (code Nl).

In contrast,
it has been found that the worn surface of a rubber pin immersed
in water is characterized
by same, scratching traces and microlayered surface texture
(Fig. 6).
As shown, the edges of the tearing traces are mostly less regular than those of
the scratching traces. It seems certain that the irregular-shaped
abrasive particles
rubbing
against the rubber surface are not simply sliding but also rotating along
the direction of motion.
In general, the microlayers on the worn surfaces are formed almost at right angles
to the scratches (Figs. 3 and 4). When the normal load is increasing at and above a
limiting value, the microlayers are in parallel with the direction of motion {Fig. 5).

This can be accounted for by the fact that the flowability of sands in liquids is much
worsened under heavy load contact; thus the rubber specimen may be considered to
be worn against a filament gauze. In this situation the microlayers are formed in the
direction of sliding, just like the wear pattern for NBR worn against a polyester gauze

[131*
It has been observed that the fineness of the microlayered surface texture indicates
the abrasion level of the worn surface. The surface microdelamination
probably results
from micromolecular
fracture or repeated rupture of molecular chains under the action
of mechanical stress as proposed previously 134, 151.
Consequently,
the mechanism of three-body wet abrasion in question appears to
involve two wear processes simultaneously:
directional microtearing (minority) by coarse
particles and directionless microlayering or micropolishing
(majority) by fine particles.
Concerning
the PTFE and F50-1 samples, the morphological
character of the
abraded surfaces is much the same as that for the NBR samples. However, a certain
plastic defo~ation
was found on the abraded surfaces of the PTFE and F50-1 samples,
especially under high temperature
and larger normal load conditions (Fig. 7).
4.2. Rates of wear
4.2.1. NBR
The experimentally
measured rates
As expected, the wear rateA increases
scales for both axes, the experimentally
accurately by a linear relationship
(Fig.
general result
A=kF

of wear are given in Table 3.


with the frictional force F. Using logarithmic
measured rates of wear are described quite
S), which can thus be represented
by the

0)

where the coefficient k and exponent n are characteristic of the material being examined.
The values obtained are given in Table 4,
It is of interest to note that the wear equation in question has the same form
as obtained previously using a different type of test machine under dry abrasive

Fig. 7. Three-body wet abrasion pattern (sand content 3 wt.%, normal load 334 N) (code F).

8
TABLE 3
wear rate A at various values of friction force F {code Nl)

Measured

Sand content 2.81 wt.%


18.6
0.55

21.1
0.72

24.1
0.83

26.7
0.92

31.0
1.10

32.6
1.30

Sand content 5.11 wt.%


F (N)
22.8
A (g rev-)X 10
0.80

25.2
0.94

28.7
1.27

33.5
1.36

37.4
1.38

40.8
1.75

F (N)

A (g rev-) X 10

Fig. 8. Wear rate A vs. frictional


wt.%) (code Nl).
TABLE

force F: A, sand content

5.11 wt.%; B, sand content

2.81

Coefficient

k and exponent

n for NBR at room temperature

(code Nl)

Sand content (wt.%)

kx10

5.11

2.0
1.0

1.2
1.4

6.5 x 1O-6

2.1

2.81
Dry two-body abrasion

[16]

conditions {16]. It may be deduced that the main physical process of wet three-body
abrasion is tearing in a similar way to that of dry two-body abrasion.
Using logarithmic scales for both axes, a linear relationship
between wear rate
A and coefficient of friction JL was also obtained based upon the experimentally
measured values given in Table 5 (Fig. 9):
A=appb

(2)

The values of coefficient a and exponent b are given in Table 6.


It should be pointed out that eqn. (2) shows a correlation between wear rate
and coefficient of friction in the same way as that found by Burr and Marshek under
wet abrasion conditions but using a different type of test machine [l]. The rates of
wear depend strongly on the coefficient of friction: at high levels of coefficient of
friction the wear was light, but at lower coefficient of friction the wear was rapid.

TABLE 5
Measured

wear rate A at various values of coefficient

Sand content

2.81 wt.%

_Z (g rev-)X

10

Sand content

5.11 wt.%

A (g rev-)X

10

of friction

p (code Nl)

0.163
1.30

0.172
1.10

0.178
0.92

0.201
0.83

0.72
0.234

0.55
0.266

0.204
1.75

0.208
1.38

0.223
1.36

0.239
1.27

0.94
0.280

0.80
0.326

Fig. 9. Wear rate A ZV. coefficient


2.81 wt.%) (code Nl).
TABLE

of friction

+: A, sand content

Coefficient

a and exponent

Sand content

b for NBR at room temperature

(wt.%)

5.11
2.81
Result of Burr and Marshek

TABLE
Measured

5.11 wt.%; B, sand content

[l]

(code Nl)

0.16
0.03

1.5
2.0

0.0034-0.0045

0.025

7
coefficient

L (N)
p (sand content
/I (sand content

of friction p at various values of normal load L (code Nl)

2.81 wt.%)
5.11 wt.%)

70
0.266
0.326

90
0.234
0.280

120
0.201
0.239

150
0.178
0.223

180
0.172
0.208

200
0.163
0.204

This occurs because


the coefficient
of friction increases
with decreasing
normal load
imposed
on the specimen.
The measured
coefficients
of friction given in Table 7 are
plotted
in Fig. 10 against the normal load t using logarithmic
scales for both axes:
p=CL+

Fig. 10. Coefficient of friction p ZX. normal load L: A, sand content 5.11 wt.%; B, sand content
2.81 wt.% (code Nl).

TABLE 8
Coefficient

c and exponent

Sand content

d for NBR at room temperature

(wt.%)

5.11

2.81

(code Nl)

0.27
0.22

0.45
0.47
HI.33

Result of Tabor 1171

TABLE 9
Measured
Sand
content
(wt.%)

wear rate (code N2)


Sliding
speed v
(m s-)

Wear rate A (g rev-)

10

Normal load 1, (N)


44

51.5

58.9

0.13

1.1
1.8

11.0
4.17

13.3
6.20

21.4
7.24

0.02

1.1
1.8

1.0
0.88

0.95
0.87

0.60
0.44

values of c and d are given in Table 8.


Equation (3) is in agreement with the empirical relation of polymeric friction at
low load proposed by Tabor [17].
For mild experimental
conditions (code N2) the experimentally
measured wear
rates and friction coefficients are given in Tables 9 and 10 respectively.
As seen, the wear rates and coeffcients of friction increase with decreasing sliding
speed. This might arise from an improvement
in localized lubrication behaviour on
the friction surface as the sliding speed is increased.

The

11
TABLE
Measured

10
coefficient

of friction

p (code N2)
Coefficient

Sliding
speed v
(m s-*)

Sand
content
(wt.%)

of friction

Normal load L (N)


44

51.5

58.9

0.13

1.1
1.8

0.31
0.14

0.33
0.19

0.33
0.21

0.02

1.1
1.8

0.19
0.13

0.16
0.12

0.15
0.11

TABLE
Measured

11
wear rate A (code P)

Sand
content
(wt.%)

Wear rate A (g rev-) X lo6

Sliding
speed v
(m s-t)

Normal toad L (N)


100

150

200

0.13

3.14
6.28
8.80

6.5
5.2
1.7

7.0
5.8
2.5

7.1
5.5
3.7

0.02

3.14
6.28
8.80

3.2
1.4
1.5

4.4
1.6
2.2

5.0
2.7
3.1

TABLE
Measured
Sand
content
(wt.%)

0.13
0.02

12
coefficient

of friction

p (L = 150 N) (code P)

Coefficient

of friction p

Sliding speed ZJ (m a_-*)


3.14

6.28

3.80

0.23
0.18

0.19
0.17

0.19
0.16

4.2.2. PTFE
The experimental
results under mild conditions
(code P) are shown
and 12.
The influence
of sliding speed on wear rate and frictional
coefficient
as that for NBR mentioned
before.

in Tables

11

is the same

L(N)

Fig. 11. Wear rate A vs. normal

c ,*3 -1)

load L: A, v =3.14 m s-l; B, v=6.28

m s-l; C, v=8.80 m

s-l (code F).


Fig. 12. Wear rate A vs. sliding speed V: A, L =294 N; B, L =334 N; C, L = 393 N (code F).
In each case, as stated above, the wear rate and the coefficient of friction increase
with increasing sand content. This is probably due to the increase in the number of
tearing traces with increasing sand content. However, under wet abrasion conditions
the effect of the number of hard particles on the mechanism of rubber friction under
load contact is quite complex, which may be connected with not only the levels of
boundary lubrication
at the interface but the viscoelasticity of rubber as well, since
the latter is considered to be a major factor complicating the mechanism of rubber
friction against normal load [18].
Obviously, the wear rates of the polymers in question are also increased with
increasing normal load. However, such is not the case with NBR provided that the
sand content is quite small, say 0.02 wt.%, as shown in Table 9. This can be accounted
for by the fact that the coefficient of friction decreases with increasing normal load
under this condition.
It has been found that the wear rate of PTFE is larger than that of NBR by
several orders of magnitude. It is likely that the surface of PTFE samples can easily
adsorb water molecules in the medium; as a result, the surface layer is decomposed
and decreased in strength and elastic modulus.
4.2.3. F50-I
Figures 11 and 12 show the effects of normal load and sliding speed on the wear
rate of F50-1 at 100 C. As expected, the effect of sliding velocity on wear rate for
F50-1 is much the same as that for PTFE and NBR. However, experimental
results
have shown that the normal load has no effect on wear rate for F50-1. This fact
proves that F50-1 has excellent temperature-resistant
and anti-adhesive characteristics.

5. Conclusions

Wet abrasion of polymers appears to involve two different mechanisms. One is


a local microtearing process and the other is a general microlayering or micropolishing
process.
The wear rates of polymeric materials have been found to increase with increasing
sand content of the medium and with decreasing sliding velocity. Moreover, these

13

wear rates also increase with increasing normal load in general, but only if the sand
content of the medium is not too small for NBR. Concerning F50-1, the wear rates
were found to be surprisingly insensitive to normal load at 100 C.

References
1 B. H. Burr and K. M. Marshek, Wear, 81 (1982) 347.
2 B. H. Burr and K. M. Marshek, Wear, 68 (1981) 21.
3 S. A. Kanilina, Rubber-Metallic Parts in Hydraulic Downhole Motor, Nedla, Moscow, 1981 (in
Russian).
4 E. C. Lewis, in S. K. Rhee, A. W. Ruff and K. C. Ludema (eds.), Wear of Materials 1981,
ASME, p. 791.
5 E. C. Lewis, Petrol. Erg, 53 (1981) 162.
6 E. C. Lewis, Petrol. Eng., 53 (1981) 130.
7 E. C. Lewis, Petrol. Eng., 54 (1982) 136.
8 B. F. Puchugen, Machinery and Oilfield Equipment, 8 (1982) 9 (in Russian).
9 A. H. Muhr and A. G. Thomas, in S. K. De (ed.), Proc. Int. Conf on Rubber and Rubberlike Materials, Jamshedpur, November 1986, Indian Inst. Technol., Kharagpur, India, 1986, p.
68.
10 D. H. Champ, E. Southern and A. G. Thomas, in L. H. Lee (ed.), Advances in Polymer
Friction and Wear, Plenum, New York, 1974, p. 133.
11 E. Southern and A. G. Thomas, Rubber Chem. Technol., 52 (1979) 1008.
12 A. H. Muhr, T. 0. J. Ford and A. G. Thomas, J. Chim. Phys., 84 (2) (1987) 331.
13 J. A. Schweitz and L. Ahman, in K. C. Ludema (ed.), Wear of Materials 1983, ASME, New
York, 1983, p. 610.
14 V. L. Dyrda, V. L. Vettegren and V. P. Nadutyi, Int. Polym. Sci. Technol., 3 (1976) T/66.
15 S. W. Zhang, Rubber Chem. Technol., 57 (1984) 755.
16 S. W. Zhang, Rubber Chem. Technol., 57 (1984) 769.
17 D. Tabor, Wear, 1 (1957-1958) 5.
18 A. D. Sarker, Friction and Wear, Academic Press, New York, 1980.

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