Regulating the severe running-in wear of polymer composites by a dual-pin-on-disk (DPOD) multicomponent approach

Polymer composites are increasingly used as frictional components due to their self-lubricating properties. However, they tend to exhibit severe wear during the running-in stage, thus significantly impairing their service life. In the present work, a dual-pin-on-disk (DPOD) method is developed in order to reduce the running-in wear of a polytetrafluoroethylene/alumina (PTFE/Al₂O₃) composite when sliding against GCr15 bearing steel by introducing an assistant polymer component during the running-in stage. The results show that the running-in wear rate of the main polymer pin is reduced by up to 77.26 %. This is because the assistant pin causes excess wear debris to be released into the wear track and provides a higher shear force, thereby promoting the tribological chemical reactions and facilitating the generation of tribofilms on the worn surfaces. In addition, the processed polymer achieves a wear rate similar to that of the conventional single pin condition (∼3 × 10⁻⁷mm³/Nm) in the subsequent steady-state stage. The results of the present work are expected to increase significantly the wear life span and application prospects of the polymer composites.