Pin-on-disk apparatus for tribological studies of polymeric materials

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to describe the construction of a custom-built pin-on-disk (POD) apparatus based on a simple design and on important guidelines.Design methodology approach - The POD apparatus is built as a part of the main author's PhD project. The apparatus is built at a low cost and is suited for testing polymeric materials under dry-sliding conditions. The different main parts of the apparatus are described in a way which partly explains the choice of construction and partly makes it possible to produce a similar apparatus. Furthermore, a limited amount of tribological data is presented mainly to exemplify the usefulness of the machine.Findings - The POD apparatus is successfully applied to measure coefficients of friction, wear rates and disk temperatures at an acceptable level of precision and accuracy. Tribological data obtained with this equipment show the effect of reinforcing an epoxy resin with a plain glass fiber weave.Research limitations implications - The data presented in this paper are limited since the main objective is to describe the construction of a POD apparatus.Practical implications - The paper is intended to be a source of inspiration for industrial or academic laboratories who want to establish their own tailor-suited tribological test-equipment, instead of investing in a probably more expensive commercial machine.Originality value - The POD apparatus is custom-built and described in an easily understandable way, which makes this a helpful paper for those who wish to produce a similar apparatus.