Tribological characteristics of ABS structures with different infill densities tested by pin-on-disc

Abstract

Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), a petroleum-based thermoplastic, is widely used in various industry. It is important to make product costs without reducing the wear characteristics of products. For this reason, over the past 20 years, researchers have focused on improving product performance by reducing material weight. The literature has limited information about the tribological properties of the ABS polymer samples produced with fused deposition modelling. In this study, gyroid-patterned ABS samples with different infill densities (25%, 50%, and 75%) were produced and the effect on the wear properties of the samples was investigated. The main aim of the study is to show the infill density effect on wear and friction performance of the samples and find the coefficient of friction values. So, this study is one of the first studies which investigated wear and friction properties of ABS polymer produced as gyroid pattern with different infill densities. The study might also be used to have an initial information whether ABS polymer can be used in additive manufacturing systems for the joint components. As the performance indicator, diameter deviation, hardness, surface roughness, test temperature, friction coefficient, weight loss, and wearing surface results of the samples were evaluated. The results show that infill density is an important property that effect the tribological and heating characteristic of ABS samples. The friction and heat of the samples increase by increasing infill density. According to the tribological test results, the highest coefficient of friction and friction temperature were reached in the samples with 75% infill density.