Increasing the Resistance of HDPE to Abrasive Wear with Small Additions of UHMWPE

— High-density polyethylene (HDPE) composites containing up to 10 wt % of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) were prepared by melt blending in a twin-screw extruder at a barrel temperature of 240°C. The structure and morphology of composites and surfaces of abrasive wear were studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results of DSC and mechanical tests show that addition of UHMWPE produces a two-phase structure, in which UHMWPE is a dispersed phase and plays the role of a crystallization nucleator, which at a content of 1 wt % UHMWPE leads to the formation of a fine-crystalline structure with a reduced fracture toughness under static and impact loading. The rate of abrasive wear of the composites monotonously decreases with an increase in the content of UHMWPE, which is explained by an increase in the tensile work to failure spent on plastic deformation and fibrillation of UHMWPE particles strongly bonded with the HDPE matrix.