Abstract
Investigations of the wear of ultra high molecular weight polyethylene in unidirectional sliding against a range of glass counterfaces of various initial surface roughnesses are described. The tests were carried out either with the wear specimens under dry conditions of contact or lubricated by distilled water. Comparative tests under rarified atmosphere were also carried out. A single sliding speed of 0.24 m/s and two constant loads of 20 N and 80 N per test pin were used.
The initial wear factors measured were often low, but the onset of a second, more severe, wear regime commonly occurred at an early stage in the testing. This phenomenon produced overall wear factors which were higher than those previously reported for this polymer sliding against both ceramic and stainless steel counterfaces of similar roughnesses after the same distances of sliding under equivalent conditions of testing.
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