Friction and Wear Characteristics of the Resin Bonded Solid Lubricant Films: PTFE and MoS2 as Solid Lubricant

In the friction characteristics of the polyamideimide (PAI) resin bonded PTFE films, the friction coefficient (μ) kept approximate constant low value, and then rose, finally turned out to be the value of final use life. Moreover, μ decreased with the content of PTFE. On the other band, the following interesting characteristics were shown in the PAI resin bonded MoS2. That is, μ initially increased with the sliding distance. After showing the maximum value, μ began to decrease, indicating a low level value for a long distance. And then, μ rose again and reached the value of final use life. In the wear characteristic, the PTFE films showed “initial wear” and “steady-state wear”, and the wear rate was different at various content rates. For the PAI resin bonded MoS2 almost the same thickness as the film thickness was worn out at early states. From the viewpoint of the relative relationship of the hardness between the lubricant particle and the PAI resin binder, it was discussed that PTFE functioned from the first stage as a lubricant, while MoS2 functioned as a lubricant after the film almost disappeared and MoS2 particles were extended to the thin film on the friction surface.