Friction and wear properties of stainless steel sliding against polyetheretherketone and carbon-fiber-reinforced polyetheretherketone under natural seawater lubrication

This paper presents a comparative study of friction and wear on 316L against polyetheretherketone (PEEK), 316L against carbon-fiber-reinforced polyetheretherketone (CFRPEEK) and 9Cr18Mo against CFRPEEK under natural seawater lubrication. Friction and wear tests were carried out with configuration of a ring on a rotating disc under ambient conditions. Tests were conducted at normal load 100 N and the rotational speed of 100 r/min. The results show that 316L against CFRPEEK and 9Cr18Mo against CFRPEEK hold much lower friction coefficient and show much better wear resistance under seawater lubricated than 316L against PEEK. For the characterization of worn surface topography, the surface roughness was performed using the laser microscope and Ra (arithmetic mean roughness) parameters values were evaluated. It was observed that the roughness of 316L/CFRPEEK and 316L/PEEK has a significant decline after the friction and wear test, but the roughness of 9Cr18Mo/CFRPEEK displays an obvious increase.