Windings in superconducting magnets operating at 4.2 K are highly susceptible to quenching caused by small frictional heat inputs. Small movements in the magnet system are inevitable during ramping due to the increasing electromagnetic forces. Friction pairs of polymer based materials have been investigated at 4.2 K to gain an understanding of their sliding behavior in conditions representative of superconducting MRI systems. The results indicate that polymer-polymer pairs experience unstable sliding behavior with repeated stick-slip whereas polymer-aluminum couples have stable sliding behavior up to high contact pressures of 20 MPa.
This study deals with the development of PEEK (polyehteretherketone) and PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) based composites, optimized for low friction and low wear performance under extreme environments. It is demonstrated that the incorporation of a harder polymer component into PTFE (such as PEEK particles), a short fiber reinforcement (e.g. carbon fibers CF), and internal lubricants (e.g. PTFE particles), helps to reduce the friction and to improve the wear resistance over a very wide temperature range.
The sliding performance of PEEK composites was investigated in vacuum environment. Tests were performed with carbon fibre reinforced PEEK composites filled with PTFE, and MoS2 or graphite as further solid lubricant. Polymer samples were tested in a pin-on-disc configuration continuously sliding against CrNi-steel. Depending on sliding speed and temperature, the MoS2 filled composites showed high wear resistance and friction coefficients as low as PVD coatings.
The effects of weathering exposure on unfilled and filled thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU) materials are described as performed under different humidity conditions. For this purpose, a weathering device was used with UV-A 340 nm lamps at a constant temperature of 40 °C. The effects of environmental (UV and humidity condition) degradation on the frictional properties of TPU materials are presented along with surface analyses to characterize the chemistry of the degradative process. Photooxidative degradation of unfilled polymer leads to deterioration of physical and mechanical properties, which affects its tribological behavior significantly. Due to crosslinking, the stiffness of the material increases, reducing drastically the friction coefficient of unfilled TPUs. The frictional behavior of glass fiber reinforced TPU is less affected by radiation.
High performance polymer composites have been intensively investigated for tribological applications in air, but rarely in hydrogen environment. Author's previous benchmark of composites in liquid hydrogen (LH2) showed that graphite filled polymers have beneficial friction behaviour in this extreme condition. Therefore, further investigations have been undertaken in hydrogen environment. This paper presents first results obtained with polyimide composites filled with different types (natural, synthetic) and amounts of graphite in air, vacuum and hydrogen environments. A particular attention is taken to the influence of hydrogen on graphite as well as on the polymer matrix.
This chapter deals with the development of polyetheretherketone (PEEK) and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)-based composites, optimized for low friction and low wear performance under extreme environments. It is demonstrated that the incorporation of a harder polymer component into PTFE (such as PEEK particles), a short fiber reinforcement (e.g. carbon fibers (CFs)) and internal lubricants (e.g. PTFE particles) helps to reduce the friction and to improve the wear resistance over a very wide temperature range.