A comparative study on fretting wear and frictional heating behavior of PEEK composites for artificial joint applications

Abstract

Fretting wear becomes one of most concerning issues in the clinical applications of artificial joints. Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) and PEEK-based composites are promising alternative materials for polymer-on-metal joints. In this study, an experimental investigation is conducted to evaluate the fretting wear behavior and the frictional heating behavior of PEEK and three kinds of PEEK-based composites under the dry sliding and water lubricated conditions. The composite filled with carbon fibers shows excellent fretting wear resistance under a range of normal forces, while the composite filled with PTFE, carbon fibers, and graphite demonstrates different wear mechanisms under small and large normal forces. The temperature increase due to the frictional heating for these four materials is insignificant under the fretting wear loading conditions. The water lubrication reduces the coefficients of friction for all four materials.

Keywords

• Fretting wear
• Frictional heating
• PEEK-based composites
• Wear mechanisms