Abrasion resistance of blended polymers filled with metallic powders.

Friction and wear of polymeric composites formed by blending polyethylene (PE) and polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) filled with different metallic powders is discussed in the present work. The scratch test was carried out to investigate wear resistance and friction coefficient of the tested composites prepared by molding of polymeric blends. Wear was measured by the net area of the cross section of the groove caused by the scratch and friction coefficient was measured as the ratio between the tangential and normal force exerted during scratch process. The test results showed that the best blend was 25 % polyethylene and 75 % polymethylmethacrylate with addition of bronze caused significant decrease in friction and wear. Increasing cooling rate of polymeric composites increased plasticization and consequently wear decreased. The strong adhesion of silicon carbide and bronze in the polymeric matrix caused significant wear decrease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]